Lisbon Treaty research defended

By Juno McEnroe

Monday, November 23, 2009

THE Department of Foreign Affairs has defended a decision to finance weighty research into why voters backed the Lisbon Treaty.

The radical shift in the support for the referendum is to be examined by the Department of Foreign Affairs. The total cost of similar research in late 2008 into why the electorate backed a No vote cost taxpayers around €150,000.

Iveagh House wants to spend more funds probing the Yes vote just weeks ahead of the savage cuts expected in the budget.

The electorate will be asked later this month for the factors that shaped their vote. Iveagh House also want to measure the level of understanding of EU issues in general and the Lisbon Treaty.

An advertisement for the research this week said: "The objective will be to provide evidence for an analysis of changes in Irish attitudes and opinions in relation to the European Union over the past year and to draw lessons that can be applied to future efforts to communicate about Europe."

Department chiefs want to identify the ways people were influenced during the Lisbon campaign and the methods of communication which were most effective, such as online messages, posters and leaflet drops. Following the first No Lisbon vote on 12 June, 2008, the Government carried out research to identify reasons behind the treaty’s rejection.

The department said the 2008 study would be used alongside the new one to asses how opinions on the EU had evolved in the last two years.

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, November 23, 2009