Barroso: Now is the time for the Irish people to decide
There is a keen sense of people connected with the EU holding their breath as to the outcome of the referendum and none more so than the 10,000 or so Irish living in Brussels.
Asked if Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso had any final message for the Irish voters, his spokesperson said, “Now is the time for the Irish people to decide. He simply hopes that as many people as possible will use their democratic right and make their voice heard.”
She added that Mr Barroso and vice president Margot Wallstrom had visited Ireland over the past few weeks and conveyed their messages directly to the people.
Flights to Dublin were full with people travelling back to vote and earlier in the week many took holidays to campaign among family and friends.
Europe For Ireland, an organisation of Irish people in Belgium, had campaigned for a Yes vote. It’s spokesperson Jim Murray, former head of the pan European consumers group BEUC, said people would be mystified if the treaty is rejected again.
“If Lisbon is so bad for Ireland and Irish sovereignty, it should be as bad for them. They would understand our defending Irish social and health services to the last ditch but they do not think their health and social services and workers right are threatened under Lisbon. And I don’t believe that this is a prospect their governments have so far failed to see.”
The No camp was campaigning up to the last minute also with the British Conservative MEPs claiming in the European Parliament that the €14.8 million EU fund for unemployed Dell workers was illegal as it had not been properly processed and constituted political interference in the referendum.
The Commissioner in charge of the globalisation fund, Vladimir Spidla, replied: “I visited the site of Dell and discussed these matters with the workers there, and I really can say the workers felt the intervention from the globalisation fund was aid”.
If the vote is Yes, the treaty faces further delays, including its referral by Czech senators to the Constitutional Court. The judge in charge of the case said the court would start dealing with it within a month, indicating a decision could be expected before Christmas.
If the outcome is a ‘No’, it will trigger a crisis as countries threaten to proceed with others willing to do so on closer integration.
