Noonan accused of scare tactics on EU referendum

FINANCE Minister Michael Noonan has been accused of scaremongering the electorate after saying any referendum on the new EU deal would be a vote on whether to stay in the euro or not.

Mr Noonan predicted voters would pass any referendum if the stricter EU budget measures needed to be voted on, a decision on which could be known in just a few weeks.

But his summary on what a referendum would mean for Ireland was seized upon by Fianna Fáil who declared that his comments were “irresponsible” and an early attempt to silence criticism of the EU agreement.