LABOUR POSTER LAUNCH:THERE WILL be "no turning the clock back" on equality if the Lisbon Treaty is passed, Labour deputy leader Joan Burton said yesterday.
Launching a campaign poster, "Europe has been good for women: vote Yes", Ms Burton said ratification of the treaty would "copperfasten equality for women in terms of pay and conditions without undermining possibilities for positive action".
She said that "the Charter of Fundamental Rights which will come into effect if Lisbon is ratified will ensure that there is no turning the clock back. For example, Article 23 states that 'equality between women and men must be ensured in all areas, including employment, work and pay'."
Ms Burton highlighted the Charter of Fundamental Rights as "by far the most significant innovation" in the treaty.
"For the first time this will give the citizens of Europe a legally-enforceable Bill of rights across the union. For the first time it will be made clear that it is European citizens which are at the heart of the union."
The Labour Party, seven of whose 20 TDs are women, is highlighting that women make up a disproportionate number of don't know and No voters.
"Fianna Fáil women voters in particular are very uncertain as to what the treaty means and they are nervous. Women are careful, cautious voters when it comes to changing the Constitution," Ms Burton added as she and a number of Labour female TDs and councillors posed at the Countess Markiewitz statue on Townsend Street in Dublin.
"Countess Markiewitz would have been truly pleased to see the advances women have made in Ireland since her time and the EU has played an absolutely critical role in this," Ms Burton said.
The countess was the first female MP in Ireland or Britain when she was elected to Westminster in 1918. "An abstentionist, she was also the first woman elected to the first Dáil and the first minister for labour," Ms Burton said.
"She was married to a Polish count. That's the European connection," added Dublin Central TD Joe Costello.
Cllr Niamh Bhreathnach said: "There is clearly a need for an information campaign to remind women of the extent to which they have benefited from EU membership."
