Enemies once more, FF and FG point fingers

FINE Gael and Fianna Fáil have accused each other of not doing enough to secure a yes vote in the Lisbon Treaty referendum, as the blame game got under way.

Fine Gael said the financial controversies of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the subsequent change of party leadership distracted the Government from campaigning.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said he did not want to get involved in recrimination and he would not be calling for a general election. But he said: “I did make the point on a number of occasions that the vacuum that was opening up could certainly lead to misinformation being out there and that is what happened.”

Mr Kenny said he met regularly with Brian Cowen and told him there should be a clear and co-ordinated message.

Mr Kenny said he would not take responsibility for the no vote on the basis that the last two opinion polls showed almost half of Fine Gael supporters said they would reject the treaty.

“I’m not going to get into any discussions of good campaigns or bad campaigns today,” he said.

Earlier in the campaign, Fine Gael said remarks by Taoiseach Brian Cowen, that other parties should “crank up” their campaign were not helpful.

The party’s spokesperson on European Affairs, Lucinda Creighton, said at the time that Mr Cowen’s remarks were “not smart” and “alienated a third of voters”. Fine Gael’s MEP for the South, Colm Burke, said Fianna Fáil were “starting the blame game early” because they feared a no vote.

Former Fine Gael leader Michael Noonan said the Government delayed starting the campaign “because of the change of leadership and because of the lap of honour that the Government took before they got down to the serious business of campaigning”.

Mr Noonan added: “I’m not into the blame game, but I think that is a consideration.’

Limerick Fine Gael TD Kieran O’Donnell said Mr Ahern’s tribunal appearance and lack of credibility undermined people’s belief in politics.

Fianna Fáil rejected suggestions that it was late starting its campaign. A party spokesperson said Fine Gael “seem to be doing a political thing: they were fixated on using Lisbon to attack the Government”.

He said Mr Cowen had visited 35 towns as part of his tour, “twice as many as Kenny did”. He also said that the polls showed Fine Gael support for the treaty was low before Mr Cowen became Taoiseach, meaning he can’t be blamed for driving FG support down.

Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin said: “Fianna Fáil started its campaign in January; its first leaflets were handed out in February and we held 10 meetings that March.”

A row also broke out within Fianna Fáil, with some back-bench TDs accusing the party’s MEPs of being low key during the campaign.

Former European Parliament president and PD MEP Pat Cox said the referendum was the first time the Irish public had a “chance to say something” since the revelations of Mr Ahern’s finances in the Mahon Tribunal two weeks ago.