Opposition pledges support for treaty

FINE GAEL and Labour played down fears last night that the urge to punish the Government could sway voters into rejecting the Lisbon treaty for a second time.

The recent local and European elections saw both parties profit handsomely from their attacks on, and public anger with, the Government.

But they pledged to call a halt to adversarial politics in a bid to get Lisbon passed. Both parties supported the treaty in the first campaign and will continue to do so.

“Fine Gael have very serious differences in politics with this Government and the way the economy and public finances and other issues have been dealt with, but for the Lisbon referendum, we’ll leave aside our differences in the interests of the country,” Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore acknowledged the Government’s unpopularity would not make the yes campaign’s task any easier.

But he added: “I think that we have to separate here what is a referendum on a proposition in relation to our relations with Europe [from] the understandable wish that people have to get rid of this Government.

“Nobody wants to get rid of this Government more than I do… but it would irresponsible to take the view that we should do something that would be bad for the country simply because we want to give a kick to the Government.”

Mr Kenny urged the Government to set an early date for the referendum and get it out of the way before the Government and opposition clashed on the budget and other matters.

He suggested October 2, just a few days after the Dáil is scheduled to return from its summer recess.

Having the referendum early in the Dáil schedule would allow the Government and main opposition parties present a united front on Lisbon, with normal service then resuming immediately after.

“We don’t want this to be taking place in the middle of a heavy parliamentary session where there are serious political debates about budgets and other issues… which will make for hard politics,” Mr Kenny said.

Sinn Féin, the only Dáil party to oppose the treaty last time out, said it would do so again this time.

Vice president Mary Lou McDonald said that, despite the guarantees, the Government had “neither sought nor secured” any changes to the actual treaty itself.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen and his colleagues had engaged in “tremendous spin and hype” to give the impression something had been achieved when “not one iota, word or comma” had been altered.

It was “disingenuous” of any party to try and “cod the people” into believing that anything about the treaty was different, she added.

Sinn Féin remained deeply concerned about issues such as workers’ rights and EU militarisation and would oppose Lisbon on that basis, she said.

Those comments were echoed by former Green MEP Patricia McKenna in her role as chairperson of the People’s Movement, another group campaigning for rejection of the treaty.

“The so-called legally binding guarantees which the Government claim they fought hard to secure do not change one single aspect of the Lisbon treaty,” she said.