Coalition attacked over treaty ‘conspiracy’

FORMER Green MEP Patricia McKenna has accused the Government — which includes her own party — of engaging in a “political conspiracy” to pass the Lisbon Treaty.

Ms McKenna, who opposes the treaty, said the Government was showing contempt for a Supreme Court ruling relating to referendums.

The ruling, which resulted from a case Ms McKenna brought in the 1990s, prohibits the Government using State funds to promote one side in a referendum campaign.

In the Dáil yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern said the Government had received “very strong advice” from the Attorney General that the ruling did not apply until legislation paving the way for the referendum campaign had been signed into law by the President.

“I understand a number of organisations are taking a much more conservative and restrictive view in regard to that issue. [But] the strong advice given to Government in regard to the McKenna judgment is that it does not kick in until the day the bill is passed,” Mr Ahern said.

Ms McKenna said this was a clear sign the Government — which includes three Green Party ministers — planned to use taxpayers’ money to influence public opinion in the run-up to the referendum.

As well as being an influential member of the Greens, Ms McKenna is chairperson of the People’s Movement, an organisation opposing the treaty.

“The minister’s words would indicate that the Government plan to abuse their position and circumvent the principles of the McKenna judgment by delaying calling the referendum until such time as they have influenced people to support the Lisbon Treaty,” she said.