Ganley to spearhead 'No' campaign against Lisbon

Businessman Declan Ganley said today that he will spearhead a campaign for a “No” vote in the Lisbon Treaty referendum.

The Libertas leader claimed that unaccountable European bureaucrats wanted to take power away from the Irish people.

There will be a re-run of last year’s referendum in October after voters rejected the agreement.

Following his failure to get elected as an MEP during the European elections in June, Mr Ganley said he would not get involved in any second Lisbon Treaty referendum campaign.

Mr Ganley said: "What is at stake here is a power play within certain elites in Europe, this has got very little to do with Ireland.

"They want power in unelected and unaccountable ways and they call that efficiency.

"It is efficiency for them in that it removes the democratic process within countries."

Mr Ganley helped plunge the European Union into crisis last year when the Republic of Ireland voted against the EU reform package but said he would not campaign again in the upcoming second referendum after his European elections defeat earlier this year.

Today he said he had been "provoked" by the behaviour of campaigners for the Lisbon Treaty and attacked the European Commission's record.

"They are unelected and unaccountable and have no mandate from the electorate," he added.

He said a yes vote would damage the Irish economy and jobs.

The Galway-based campaigner said: "It is a European constitution. It is factual to say that there isn't one law that could be made under the European constitution that could not be made under the Lisbon Treaty."

He claimed he had asked for 113 changes to the Treaty which had not been included and warned against having a foreign affairs representative for Europe.

He claimed that Lisbon would transfer 60 key areas of Irish sovereignty to Europe and would affect local industry.

The Irish Government insists that its renegotiations have helped safeguard assurances like Ireland's place on the European Commission.

Mr Ganley added: "It says that the laws of the European Union shall have primacy over the laws of the member states. It makes these laws supreme.

"The European Court of Justice becomes the... supreme court."