Opposition parties unite to rule out Lisbon re-run 25/08/2008 - 15:55:18
Opposition parties and anti-Lisbon Treaty groups today rounded on Europe Minister Dick Roche after he claimed a second referendum on the controversial document may be necessary.
In an unusual show of unity, Sinn Féin, the only Dail party opposed to the Treaty, Fine Gael and Labour all insisted another vote was not an option.
Mr Roche said it was his personal belief that a second referendum was the proper response to the position faced by the country.
But Fine Gael branded Mr Roche's plan arrogant while Labour warned it could force more people into the No camp.
"It is clear that the Irish people said no and that verdict must be respected," Lucinda Creighton, Fine Gael's Europe spokesperson, said.
"The Government must clearly make changes in order for any progress to be made, whether through referendum or any other means.
"The fundamental concerns of the Irish people cannot be brazenly ignored by Dick Roche, Brian Cowen or anyone else on the Government benches."
Mr Roche said a second referendum could not be ruled out and it was his personal belief that it was the most appropriate response to the situation faced by the country.
He is the first Government minister to publicly suggest a re-run of the treaty referendum, in what was interpreted as a "kite-flying exercise" by Sinn Féin Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald today.
Labour's Deputy Leader Joan Burton described the comments as unhelpful, unwise and said there was no reason to assume a second vote would produce a different result.
"It is only three months since the Irish people voted to reject the treaty and politicians have to respect the verdict of the electorate.
"There can be no question of simply putting the same proposition to the people once again.
"There is no basis for believing that a second referendum would produce a different outcome to the one we got on June 12.
"Indeed, Minister Roche's comments may simply have the effect of driving even more people into the No camp."
Sinn Fein, the only Dail party to oppose the controversial treaty, said the minister's remarks were another attempt by the Government to convince people of the need for a second vote.
MEP McDonald said: "Minister Roche's comments are yet another example of a government without a plan to tackle the political reality that the Lisbon Treaty is finished.
"There is no political crisis as Minister Roche has suggested.
"There is simply a political task to be dealt with.
"The Irish people, like the French and Dutch before them, have rejected this treaty. A new deal now needs to be negotiated."
Libertas, the main organisation opposed to the treaty, and the People's Movement said they would fight any attempt to run a second referendum.
Naoise Nunn, Libertas executive director, said: "Dick Roche insisted during the campaign there would be no second referendum, that this was it and this was the choice the people had to make.
"Recent polls have showed that if there was another referendum the No vote would be even bigger.
"I think it is very, very clear that the people have said no and the Irish Government needs to stand up to its European counterparts."
A Government spokesman declined to comment on Mr Roche's comments saying they were made in a personal capacity.
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Opposition parties and anti-Lisbon Treaty groups today rounded on Europe Minister Dick Roche after he claimed a second referendum on the controversial document may be necessary.
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