ON THE CANVASSWITH EAMON GILMORE:The Labour Party leader took to the streets to spread the 'good word'
IT WAS as if someone up there was looking down upon them. The sun shone on Grafton Street where throngs of shoppers appeared in good cheer. There among them under a canopy of white balloons came Labour, disciples of the EU, coming to spread the “good word” (Yes, that is) to the people of Dublin.
On mature reflection, perhaps the setting was less than ideal. “There are a lot of tourists on Grafton Street,” Gilmore said, looking momentarily confused on arrival.
Luckily, many of the tourists were of European origin and, as it turned out, were singing from the same hymn sheet. “We are Belgian . . . and very pro-European,” two young men shouted, saluting Gilmore as he forged forward.
The canvass even boasted its own EU cheerleader in the form of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, former prime minister of Denmark and president of the Party of European Socialists. He stayed away from the main throng, his gangling figure looking slightly out of place as he moved along the fringes. A bit like Europe itself, it seemed; welcome, just at arm’s length.
The “old Dane” (as he called himself) wanted to to reassure us in his halting continental accent that the European Union was indeed our saviour. “Please, to the Irish people – keep it separated. I know that so many of you are angry with the Government and you want to give them a lesson but if you give them a lesson now with voting No you’re hitting the wrong target. You’re hitting Ireland.”
The Grafton Street shoppers politely ignored the guest from Europe, instead concentrating on the man of the moment, or at least the man who believes his moment may fast be approaching.
Eamon Gilmore dashed about, thrusting his hand out to shake that of all and sundry, with the air of a self-conscious teenager seeking reassurance from his peers. He needn’t have worried.
“If you’re looking for a Yes vote you’ll certainly get one from me,” a man said without being prompted.
“We need Europe now more than ever,” one woman offered. “I’m voting Yes, it makes sense doesn’t it?” another said, sounding as if she was instructing the Labour leader on the point rather than the other way around.
One young man assured him that he was indeed a believer and would be happy to spread the good word himself. “Keep on trucking,” he said with parting encouragement.
Then the dissenters. A man appeared, his opposition evident in the shake of the head as he approached. Gilmore stumbled momentarily before assuming soothing tones and political speak: “We have a lot of mountains to climb,” he started. “People out there in the international community . . . if they get the idea that we’re pulling back, that we’re somehow becoming semi-detached it’s going to affect jobs.”
“Jesus Christ,” the non-believer spluttered in part laughter, part disbelief. “There’s no jobs here” but he said he would go away and have a think about things.
An elderly woman appeared, her kind, lined face turning up to meet Gilmore’s. But her voice hardened as she admonished him and other politicians for muddying the waters.
“I don’t think they’ve explained enough . . . it’s very difficult to know where the balance is – the advantages and disadvantages. We’re not getting the truth I don’t think. We never have. We didn’t get any truth the last time either,” she said.
One man reproached him for giving out to the Government, a practice which he felt Labour should put on the back-burner until after Lisbon II.
Gilmore said he was trying to persuade people to put their anger aside for the sake of the country and vote Yes. “We’ve got to put this above and beyond party politics.”
But what of his apparent U-turn on the health of the Lisbon Treaty? Gilmore famously declared the treaty dead after the last referendum.
He said now that his original quote “simply underlined the consequence of our decision . . . the Lisbon Treaty cannot come into effect if we say No.”
He added: “People are much more open to persuasion this time . . . I think people are more open to thinking and listening to it and weighing it up. I just hope that that will be sufficient to bring it round.”