Martin urges anti-Lisbon group ‘to come clean’

A ROW between Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin and the most prominent anti-Lisbon campaign group has deepened over its ties with anti-abortion activists.

Yesterday Mr Martin reiterated attacks on Coir, which he described as a front for the group Youth Defence, and questioned why they were trying to hide their ties.

He also published pictures of Youth Defence’s headquarters, which is the same office as Coir’s campaign base.

Mr Martin said Coir must come clean about its background and the “sinister campaign” being organised by Youth Defence.

“Why this matters is that the public are entitled to an honest debate about our future in Europe.

“An organisation which tries to hide its origins and puts up thousands of posters making wild claims like Lisbon ending Irish freedom and cutting the minimum wage by 75% has to be challenged,” he said.

Mr Martin was referring to a national poster campaign which has been rolled out by Coir.

However, its spokesman Richard Greene said it had made no secret some of its members were also members of Youth Defence and that it had paid to rent office space from the group for its Lisbon campaign.

“Coir is an independent group paying for office space. I would feel the minister’s attacks are a sign of terrible desperation,” he said.

He said he could not believe the minister was choosing to attack people who were pro-life.

The spat escalated as a new poll revealed young voters were swinging in favour of the Lisbon treaty.

The survey of 24 to 40-year-olds suggested young people were far more likely to vote in October than last year.

It said 86% were either extremely likely or likely to vote this time.

And 36% said they will vote in favour of Lisbon with 23% intent to reject it.

However, a crucial 37% are undecided.

Director of the WeBelong campaign, Olivia Buckley, said the research conducted on their behalf was an indication of the challenge facing the yes side.

“Support for Lisbon is important for the thousands of young people in Ireland who want a future for Ireland and a future for themselves.

“They are among those most affected by unemployment, yet they retain a huge sense of self belief and have a desire for Ireland to get back on track,” she said.

The survey also showed of the 501 people surveyed, 52% believed they had job security for the next year.

However, with the undecided respondents omitted the poll revealed a dead split between those who believe a yes vote will improve the chances of economic recovery and those who do not agree with this position.