Politicians blamed for negative EU image

THE Government has contributed to people’s negative perceptions of the EU by frequently blaming it for problems, an Oireachtas committee has been told.

The Irish Examiner’s Europe correspondent, Ann Cahill, told the committee there was a perception that the EU was “a monster breathing fire at Ireland. When you consider the evidence, it is easy to see why they might think this,” she added.

Ms Cahill cited a number of cases where the Government blamed the EU for problems of its own making, such as the controversial European directive which saw schools charged for water.

“When agreeing this issue [at EU level], the Government had domestic houses exempted but did not include schools. The European Commission said they could return to this and exempt schools. The Government said they did not want to and blamed the charges on schools on the EU,” Ms Cahill pointed out.

Another example concerned the EU directive aimed at improving pay and conditions for temporary and agency workers.

“The Irish Government was very reticent to admit it was objecting to it,” Ms Cahill said. “With the British, they held it up for a long time before signing up to it, but not before alarming trade unions and workers and giving the impression that the EU was ready to work against their interests.”

As a result of such spinning, it sometimes appeared as if Ireland was now colonised by the EU in the same way the country was once colonised by Britain, she added.

A similar point was made by Frank Cullen, co-ordinating director of the National Newspapers of Ireland, the representative body for the national press who said the Government was quick to take credit for positive developments emanating from Europe and equally quick to lay the blame on the EU when problems arose.

Such spinning had inevitable consequences when the Government attempted to convince the public of the merits of the Lisbon treaty.

Mr Cullen said it was not for the country’s newspapers to support one result over another in the referendum, but they were able and willing to provide a medium for debate, and had done so during the campaign.

Ms Cahill’s contribution was praised by members of the committee, which is examining Ireland’s future in Europe following the rejection of the treaty.