McDonald: Govt must deliver on promise

Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald has said the Government set the bar very high in its campaign for a Yes vote in the Fiscal Treaty referendum.

At the halfway stage in the count and with 22 constituencies declared, the Yes vote stood at 60% as the opinion polls had predicted last weekend and as Government insiders had suggested overnight.

“The Minister for Finance and others are on the record as saying that in the event of a Yes vote, that there will be an easier Budget come next December,” said Ms McDonald.

“We want to see that happen. We want to see those who have taken the rough edge of austerity and cutbacks protected. Their lives, their standard of living protected and their communities protected.”

Ms McDonald also accused Labour leader Eamon Gilmore of being on the wrong side of the debate and at odds with most of the trade union movement.

“It’s clear throughout the campaign that the Labour Party was on the wrong side of the debate,” she added.

Socialist MEP Paul Murphy warned that the referendum had exposed a huge divide between the working and middle classes.

“It’s looking like there’s been strong class polarisation where working-class areas have been voting No and the more affluent areas have voted Yes in high numbers,” he said.

“If it’s a Yes, which I think it will be, it’s no endorsement of this Government, it’s no endorsement of what’s in this treaty and it’s no endorsement of austerity. People are scared out there.”