Referendum Commission dismissed as ‘utterly biased’

The Referendum Commission was accused of being “utterly biased” by suggesting in its information booklet that Ireland’s neutrality will not be affected by the Lisbon treaty.

The Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA), which is campaigning for a no vote, said it wrote to the commission to express concern about the summary of the treaty which was sent to each household last month.

PANA spokeswoman Carol Fox said: “We wrote to them and complained that the major elements of the changes that are being made in terms of the defence and military element of the treaty had not been mentioned at all in this document.”