GREEN LAUNCH:GREEN PARTY leader John Gormley has said the outcome of the second Lisbon Treaty referendum on October 2nd will be close, but he believes the treaty will be endorsed by the Irish people this time around.
Mr Gormley yesterday launched his party’s campaign for a Yes vote in Dublin along with Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan and the party’s spokeswoman on Europe Senator Deirdre de Búrca. It marked the first pro-Lisbon event by the Greens as a party.
The party did not adopt a formal position during the first referendum last year when the leadership failed to win two-thirds support for a Yes strategy.
However, it did win the required numbers to back the treaty at a special meeting earlier this year.
Speaking at the launch, Minister for the Environment Mr Gormley said the outcome will be very close.
“We have learned lessons from the last campaign when we were put on the back foot. . . it needs to be like an election campaign where we go and persuade people on the doorsteps,” he said.
Mr Gormley conceded the recession may influence the way people are thinking now in terms of casting their vote. But he continued: “It would be entirely counterproductive to vote No on the basis of the recession.
“The whole emphasis in terms of the European recovery is a green recovery [which can provide] jobs, jobs, jobs.” Echoing the sentiments of other pro-Lisbon political leaders, Mr Gormley said he did not contemplate defeat and would not be drawn into speculation about elections or about the popularity of Brian Cowen as Taoiseach. “It would be a huge mistake to focus on national issues when this is a campaign to get us out of recession,” he said.
Mr Gormley said that the party would be mounting a vigorous campaign showing how Ireland had much to gain from endorsing the treaty. He said that extended from supporting Ireland during the current economic crisis, to tackling climate change, to protecting the environment.
He also said that the legally-binding guarantees would give assurance to people worried about the erosion of Ireland’s neutrality.
“The Green Party has been at the forefront of articulating concerns about military neutrality. We are satisfied that decisions on defence and foreign policy will be continued to be made unanimously [at EU level]. Irish military neutrality will not in any respect be prejudiced or altered by Lisbon,” he said.
The EU has also played a pivotal role in environmental protection, and Lisbon will continue to allow it to play the leading role in tackling climate change, particularly in the run-up to the UN’s global conference on climate change in Copenhagen in December.
Ms de Búrca highlighted the gains achieved by women as a result of the EU. She pointed to the treaty amending Article 5 of the EU treaty to prohibit human trafficking which she described as a “modern form of slavery”.
Mr Ryan said that he had read the full treaty and it was like reading a manual for a car or for a fancy camera, and explained very well how it all works.
“One simple message for us as a country is that we are fundamentally stronger as a country within the EU. We will not be strong alone. We work better with others on climate change, energy and security. We will not face those challenges alone,” he said.
Green campaign: a low-budget Yes
Like other pro-treaty parties, its slogan is a variation on Yes to Europe. It reads “Yes for Ireland, for Europe, to Lisbon”.
The party will rely on mobilising its representatives and members to canvass in their localities. Eamon Ryan yesterday likened it to a general election campaign: “It’s the month of the campaign leading up to polling day that decides the outcome,” he said.
He said that the party would be bringing its message to the doorways and directly engaging with people.
“If we all campaign well enough at that level there will a Yes vote,” he said.
