EU treaty: SF and Le Pen ‘on the same side’

SINN FÉIN becomes furious when it is pointed out that the party is on the same side as Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front on the Lisbon Reform Treaty.

Their main defence seems to be that their ‘no’ is ‘not the same’. I beg to differ. Le Pen says he is pro-European, but not this Europe. So does Sinn Féin. Le Pen says he is against European integration, so does Sinn Féin.

Le Pen says he favours a Europe of ‘cooperating states’ (ie, no power-sharing). So does Sinn Féin.

Le Pen says he is defending France’s sovereignty. Sinn Féin says it is defending Ireland’s sovereignty. For good measure I should also point out that this is the position of the xenophobic UK Independence Party, Rupert Murdoch, and our very own multimillionaire Eurosceptic, Declan Ganly.

No doubt I will be accused of ‘demonising’ Sinn Féin, which is their stock response when defending the indefensible. Not so. I am simply pointing out the facts.

Proinsias De Rossa MEP

Socialist Group/Labour

Party European Office

Liberty Hall

Dublin 1