Nobody should be "guilted" into voting for the Lisbon Treaty, said a speaker from the floor at a meeting organised by the National Forum on Europe in the Dublin suburb of Blanchardstown last night.
Nor should the European Union be given the credit for Ireland's economic boom, which was mainly due to the efforts of the Irish people themselves, the speaker told the meeting, the first in a countrywide series to be held by the forum.
Several other speakers strongly criticised the treaty, echoing the critique of former Socialist Party TD, Joe Higgins, who had already condemned EU military ambitions from the platform. Opponents of further EU integration formed a high proportion of the well-attended meeting in Blanchardstown public library, which attracted some 200 people.
Labour MEP for Dublin Proinsias De Rossa, another platform speaker, came under attack for his pro-treaty views and his praise for the EU role on climate change. A man who said he was an ordinary citizen said the EU was "a rich man's club" and "an oligarchy". He added: "The big boys are going to rule this thing."
Another speaker suggested the EU was weakening workers' rights. Yet another contributor felt the EU's role in dealing with climate change was being exaggerated.
A community development worker encouraged people to use their vote and complained that there was "disempowerment" of the public who were being "railroaded" by the lack of official information about both sides of the argument.
Immigration was raised by a young man who said that most immigrants were "OK personally", but he added: "We can't go on taking hundreds of thousands of people every year." He said that the Irish would become a "minority" in areas like Blanchardstown and there should be limits on the inflow.
A businessman said Ireland was a very small fish in a big pond. Europe, with 400-500 million people, could help Ireland economically and was giving "terribly significant" access to a huge market for Irish business. "The treaty isn't perfect," he said, "but you have to take an issue like the treaty on balance." The decision of the business community through IBEC was that this was the right way to go. "I'm desperate to get some information," said a man from Buncrana, Co Donegal. But he had made up his mind to oppose the treaty. "It wipes out any kind of pretence of democracy within the EU," he said, even comparing the alleged elimination of democracy to the Hitler era.
"I don't recognise the EU that most people here have been talking about," said a pro-treaty speaker from the floor. True, the European Commission was unelected but that was because its role was to maintain balance.
The treaty gave an enhanced role for national parliaments and there were other "progressive and democratic factors".
Another pro-treaty member of the audience accused the No campaign of playing on people's fears. "I prefer to go forward in hope than to stay blocked in fear," he said.
