Cóir: Battle to kill Lisbon Treaty is far from over as Czechs still to pass it

THE battle to “kill” the Lisbon Treaty is not over, No campaign group Cóir has claimed.

Cóir spokesman Richard Greene pointed to the fact that the Eurosceptic Czech president Vaclav Klaus has yet to sign the treaty, despite the fact his national parliament has approved it. Mr Greene urged Mr Klaus to continue holding out.

“The battle to kill this dead treaty is not over,” he said. “Mr Klaus, the Czech president, has not signed the treaty into Czech law and we urge him to recognise the fact that the Irish people rejected this very, very bad treaty in the last referendum.”

At the very least, Mr Klaus will not sign the treaty until such time as the outcome of a legal challenge to Lisbon taken by a number of senators in Czech courts is known.

But Cóir wants Mr Klaus to delay until such time as the Conservatives return to power in Britain and hold their promised referendum on Lisbon. Cóir believes Lisbon would almost certainly be defeated in a British referendum, thus scuppering the treaty.

Meanwhile, Mr Greene continued to defend Cóir’s controversial campaign poster which suggested the minimum wage in Ireland could fall to €1.84 if the treaty were passed.

That claim was rubbished early in the campaign by the Referendum Commission, the impartial body tasked with informing the public about the treaty’s contents. But Mr Greene insisted that Cóir “absolutely” stood by its poster. “Cóir was telling the truth to the people, and the people will learn very, very soon that what we are saying is true.”

He characterised the campaign as a “David against Goliath” struggle.

“The Yes campaign was dirty, extremely well-funded and entirely based on fear and lies. This is a victory for bullies, and for those who did not respect the wishes of the people. “It’s a grubby victory for the elite, who spent enormous sums frightening and manipulating people.”