Lisbon Treaty - Political maturity at long last

Declan Ganley was effusive in his praise of Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s handling of the second Lisbon referendum.

“Politically, he ran a superb campaign,” according to Mr Ganley, who said that it had been “a masterful campaign by a masterful politician”.

The main opposition parties were in favour of the treaty.

Hopefully, the manner in which they put thenational interest first – and passed up the opportunity to embarrass the Government for political gain on this occasion – is a sign of growing political maturity in this country. The decisiveness of the vote has essentially killed the controversy over the Lisbon Treaty.

The country can now turn to other crucial matters.

The Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin deserve credit for the masterful way in which they negotiated assurances from our European partners that ratifying the treaty would not in any way infringe on this country’s exclusive right to deal internally with matters relating to neutrality, abortion and taxation.

In addition, they secured a continuation of this country’s right to appoint its own commissioner to the European Commission.

In the process they removed the main planks of the No campaign’s platform. Supporters of the Lisbon Treaty ran a much more positive, disciplined and united campaign this time.

By comparison, the No campaign was confused and disjointed because it had been largely undermined by the reassurances obtained in relation to the matters that the opponents had been able to generate fears and doubts about the treaty’s provisions the first time around.

With the Government showing unprecedented depths of unpopularity in opinion polls, the Taoiseach had the sagacity to recognise the situation.

While the opposition parties were allowed to generate their own kind of campaign, he shrewdly kept a low profile while campaigning extensively.

He thereby ensured that the referendum was seen as a plebiscite for constitutional change, not a popularity vote on the performance of his government.

Pat Cox, the former president of the European Parliament, also deserves much credit for the role that he played in the Yes campaign. In the process he undoubtedly enhanced his own chances of being selected as this country’s next European Commissioner.

In view of the make up of the Dáil, the Taoiseach is not in a position to select a Fianna Fáil deputy, but in any event, it is important that – having secured the right to continue to appoint our own commissioner –an eminent figure with distinct European credentials should be appointed.

Mr Cox already has impeccable credentials for the appointment and he would be in the best position to secure a significant portfolio within the commission itself.