Roche to go head-to-head in debate with far-right British group
The Eurosceptic party intend to spend up to €160,000 on delivering pamphlets to homes here, claiming issues like Ireland’s neutrality will be affected if voters ratify the treaty.
UKIP, two of whose members were kicked out for alleged corruption in 2004, say they are also considering giving Socialist MEP Joe Higgins support in his No bid and have held discussions with the Irishman.
A spokesman for the party said last night it had decided to bulk up the No campaign because of the huge amounts of cash being poured into the Yes campaign by big business.
“Why does the European Commission feel that it should be sending 80 commission officials around schools in Ireland?
“The rest of us have not had the chance to vote, you have. All of our countries are in your fortunate hands. Of course we are interested.”
“Given the yes side in Ireland has massive support from the unions, the media, from the Government, from the commission, from big business like Intel and Ryanair... there is a huge huge pile of cash on one side of the argument and virtually nothing on the other.”
The news agency Reuters is set to host a debate between UKIP leader Nigel Farage and Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald for the No side, and Minister Dick Roche and ICTU chief David Begg. The event will be held on Monday evening in the Shelbourne Hotel.
UKIP said last night it needed to check with the legal services of the European Parliament whether funds for the leaflet distribution could be paid out through the Europe of Freedom of Democracy group within the parliament, of which it is the largest member.
UKIP financed the distribution of leaflets during the last Lisbon vote on behalf of then MEP Kathy Sinnott. The party said as there was not an Irish member among the Europe of Freedom of Democracy group, it remained unclear whether it could fund an Irish-related issue.
UKIP said it expected the leaflets to feature concerns about Ireland’s neutrality and the “grey area” about the guarantees secured by the Irish Government on several sensitive issues.
Conservative Party leader David Cameron has alleged that UKIP members are “fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists”.
