“Damn all goodwill” if we vote no

IRELAND will get “damn all goodwill” from other EU member states if the Lisbon Treaty is rejected in Thursday’s referendum warns former Taoiseach, Dr Garret FitzGerald said.

The prominent member of the Irish Alliance for Europe said a no vote would “sabotage” years of hard work by european governments, and “the impact to our future would be great”.

Speaking at a press conference hosted by the alliance in Dublin, Dr FitzGerald warned of the consequences of a no vote.

“For us now to turn it down, when we benefited so much in the past from the EU and when the consequences of doing so would be so detrimental to Europe, it would have a huge effect,” he said.

Dr FitzGerald said Ireland has done well from the EU because we have been “positive members”, securing goodwill from our european partners.

“You gain good-will by effective arguments, assuring your interests, being positive about Europe ... Every single reason put forward for voting against has been shown to be false, twisted, out of context or misleading,” he said.

The former leader of Fine Gael said the public would be “naive” to be “taken in by extreme arguments” of the no side and to “throw away 35 years of hard work for no reason”.

Another member of the Alliance, UCD expert in european affairs, Professor Brigid Laffan, said there will be “puzzlement” across Europe if Ireland votes no on Thursday “because it was largely a treaty negotiated at its core by the Irish.”

She said: “Are we seriously thinking that there is a better deal available... It is highly unlikely ... and so the significance and importance of the vote on the 12th could not be underestimated and the stakes ... could not be higher.”