The deputy general secretary of ICTU has criticised the National Women's Council of Ireland for not supporting a Yes vote on the Amsterdam Treaty.
Speaking at an ICTU-organised conference on the treaty in Dublin Castle yesterday, Ms Patricia O'Donovan left her script to criticise those campaigning against the treaty because it did not go far enough in securing more worker rights.
"We would have preferred stronger social rights, more specific targets and dates to achieve them ourselves," she said. "But this was a negotiated settlement. The question for us is whether there is enough in the Amsterdam Treaty to say Yes. It is a significant step forward as far as we are concerned."
The treaty included a new title on employment and, for the first time, required the EU member-states to co-operate fully at policy level to tackle employment and unemployment. A major gain for Ireland was the elimination of the UK opt-out from the Social Chapter that existed under Maastricht. This would help preserve workers' rights and competitiveness for Irish business.
Turning to discrimination and women's rights, Ms O'Donovan said Amsterdam strengthened women's rights, those with disabilities, older workers and others discriminated against in the workplace.
The general secretary of the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, Mr Mike Allen, said: "The only way that ordinary citizens have of expressing their reservations and criticism is to vote No. Three-and-a-half million jobs have been lost in Europe since Maastricht."
Speaking on the neutrality issue, Prof Brigid Laffan, professor of European studies at UCD, said Ireland was living in a world of illusions, Marie O'Halloran writes.
"Ireland is surrounded by states which will never invade us so we don't have to extend our security.
"If there is trouble in Europe, it will hit there long before it reaches us." This "benign" situation meant Ireland did not have to take seriously issues of external security in the way Finland and Norway did on the borders of Russia.