Pro-Lisbon treaty campaigners reject McCreevy remarks
Former European Parliament president Pat Cox, who is leading a new organisation seeking to pass the treaty in the second referendum in October, yesterday accused Mr McCreevy of making “sweeping, false and entirely groundless” remarks.
Mr McCreevy recently claimed that 95% of member states would probably have rejected the treaty if they had held referendums.
Mr McCreevy was attempting to explain that while EU officials in Brussels were aghast at the Irish rejection of Lisbon last year, the leaders of the other member states would have sympathised with the Government’s predicament.
“I think all the politicians of Europe, all of the heads of state – all of them having to be elected by their people – would have known quite well that if a similar question had been put to their electorates by referendum, the answer in 95% of the countries would probably have been ‘no’ as well,” Mr McCreevy said at the time.
“The heads of state and politicians would be far more realistic about this and were glad they didn’t have to put the question themselves to their electorates.”
Mr McCreevy went on to express his hope that the Irish electorate would pass the treaty this time round, but his comments were seen by the Yes campaign as another unhelpful episode following his admission in the first Lisbon campaign he hadn’t fully read the treaty.
Mr Cox, who is viewed in some quarters as a possible successor to Mr McCreevy as Ireland’s EU Commissioner, was blunt in his criticism yesterday.
Addressing the Chambers of Commerce in Killarney, he said Mr McCreevy was simply “wrong”.
