The Conference of Religious in Ireland has called on the Government to hold a referendum on whether Ireland should join Partner ship for Peace.
In a briefing paper for the local and EU elections, CORI, the umbrella body for the Catholic religious orders, says there should be "major public debate" and "the full agreement of the Irish people should be secured" before any decisions are made on major foreign, security and defence issues, such as the EU's relationship with NATO. an Healy, co-director of CORI's justice office, Father Sean Healy, said yesterday. The briefing paper adds: "It would be totally unacceptable to have an elite, political or otherwise, making such major decisions and excluding citizens in the process." "That means a referendum on PfP," Father Sean Healy, co-director of CORI's justice office, said yesterday.
"There has been a growing recognition that human rights are about more than civil and political rights. They also include these social, economic and cultural rights which have often been given less priority by policy-makers."
CORI's paper also says: "The EU's track record on issues such as poverty, unemployment and social exclusion has left a great deal to be desired." The Social Chapter and initiatives to combat unemployment are "nowhere near the scale required with 20 million people unemployed and 50 million living in poverty".