THE DEPARTMENT of Foreign Affairs has been embarrassed by the leaking of a memo which outlines what a senior British diplomat believed to be the Government's strategy for the handling of the Lisbon Treaty referendum.
yesterday reported that the memo followed a briefing from the director general of the EU division of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Dan Mulhall, to Elizabeth Green, a senior UK diplomat in Dublin.
The memo states that European Commission vice-president Margot Wallström told Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern "that the commission was willing to tone down or delay messages that might be unhelpful" in advance of the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper also reports the memo as stating that Mr Mulhall said the referendum was being held in June rather than October because of "the risk of unhelpful developments during the French presidency - particularly related to EU defence".
In this context French president Nicolas Sarkozy was described as "completely unpredictable".
France takes over the EU presidency from July to December of this year.
The memo is reported as saying the Government believed: "Most people would not have time to study the text and would go with the politicians they trusted." As a result, the "aim is to focus the campaign on overall benefits of the EU rather than the treaty itself".
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Mr Mulhall have refused to comment on the leaked e-mail, which is not published in full and has not been seen by The Irish Times. In the memo, Mr Mulhall was also reported to be concerned about "a World Trade Organisation deal based on agricultural concessions that could lead the powerful farming association to withdraw its support" for the treaty.
The Taoiseach downplayed the memo at a joint news conference at Government Buildings with German chancellor Angela Merkel. "On the article today, of course officials from Foreign Affairs, and my department as well, meet our European colleagues on a very regular basis, but the suggestion that Europe will somehow deliberately change announcements ahead of the referendum is without any foundation."
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday it had no knowledge of the e-mail.
"The Government position on the reform treaty has been outlined in detail and in public by the Taoiseach, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, and the Minister with responsibility for European Affairs, Dick Roche," he added.
A British government spokesman said it would not comment on any leaked e-mail.
However, it is understood that Irish officials are regularly briefing diplomats from other member states, including Britain, on the upcoming referendum.
Campaigners against the Lisbon Treaty reacted angrily to the newspaper report yesterday and called on the Government to clarify what it had told the British government about its referendum campaign.
"If the story is accurate, it means that senior officials in the Irish Government are actively conspiring to release as little information as possible about the Lisbon Treaty in order to preserve the chances of a Yes vote," said Declan Ganley, chairman of the anti-treaty campaign group, Libertas.
He said the single-most damning thing about the e-mail was "the admission that the Government hoped that very few people would actually read the text of the treaty, and would simply 'vote with the politicians they trust' ".
Munster MEP Kathy Sinnott said she was "not surprised" by the leaked information, which showed the Government had been assured that inconvenient legislation from Brussels would be shelved until after the referendum.
"I consider it unfortunate and indicative of what we can expect for democracy once the Lisbon Treaty comes into force," she said.