Deception may put Yes vote at risk

REVELATIONS that the Coalition has put contentious plans for regional development on ice until after the Nice Referendum are a telling reflection of the depth of concern in Government circles about the outcome of next month’s crucial vote.

While a spokesman may have described yesterday’s Cabinet meeting as routine, we can be sure the minds of ministers were keenly focused on the fate of Nice and especially on how the outcome could yet be the decided by mounting public anger over the misleading picture of the economy depicted by the Government before the general election.

Despite all the clamour, the man at the centre of the row, Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy, has reacted to criticism with characteristic stubbornness, flatly denying claims the public was deceived and rejecting calls for his resignation.

The minister’s stout defence of the special savings scheme, now sucking millions of euro from dwindling Exchequer coffers, is hardly surprising given his personal commitment to this unique project.

But he is also acutely aware that with Nice in the balance, it would be political suicide to abandon a scheme so successful that more than a million voters are pouring money into banks and building society accounts knowing they will get an extremely handsome return after five years.

Once Nice is out of the way, it will be interesting to see if Mr McCreevy persists with this costly venture at a time when the Government is facing cutbacks even greater than the 900 million anticipated. Heated debate on whether the Government is legally entitled to walk away from contracts drawn up with savers is already raging.

The big question is whether the scheme will suffer the same fate as another pet project, the Bertie Bowl, which has now been denied State funding.

Conveniently, at a time when many people in rural Ireland regard Europe as “a threat, a nuisance and a bureaucratic bully”, to quote Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, controversial plans for the development of the regions for the next 20 years will not be released until after Nice.

Stalling publication of plans to decentralise 10,000 civil servants to towns around the country is another instance of a Government refusing to grasp a difficult political nettle.

Aware of the threat of a rural backlash, Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh advised farmers at the National Ploughing Championships that it would be totally wrong if the Referendum on Nice were used as a protest against current problems in farming. But whether they will listen is debatable.

Meanwhile, a cynic might question the coincidence of farmers getting EU subsidy payments of more than 500 million, just three days before the referendum on the enlargement of Europe.

As Fine Gael came out strongly in support of a Yes vote, the party leader sensibly avoided denigrating opponents of the Referendum, emphasising that people who raise concerns about the Treaty were neither “dingbats nor whingers”.

In this context, the Taoiseach would be well advised to take a leaf out of Mr Kenny’s book. Mr Ahern’s bitter and ill-advised attack on No voters, following the resounding defeat of the first Nice Referendum, may yet come back to haunt the Government’s campaign for a more positive response this time around.

Coupled with the widely-held perception of a Government engaged in economic deception, any further display of arrogance could put a Yes vote at risk.