THE GREEN Party has sent an e-mail to its 2,100 members seeking their views on how the Government should deal with the Lisbon Treaty in the light of the referendum defeat.
The process is designed to give the party leadership an insight into the thinking of members about the best way out of the dilemma.
Green Ministers and TDs supported the campaign for a Yes vote in the referendum campaign but according to opinion polls the majority of party supporters actually voted No.
The e-mail, signed by the party general secretary, Colm Ó Caomhánaigh, asks members to summarise their views on one A4 page as a high level of response is expected. "We would be interested to hear your views on how the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in the referendum should be handled by the Government. There is a bit of space now over the summer to discuss this. Your views will be passed on to our policy group on Europe," the e-mail says. To prompt views the e-mail poses the following questions: "What do you think the future of the Lisbon Treaty should be? What were the issues that you believe the Irish people had greatest concern about in the recent referendum?
"Could these issues be addressed in any way to address voters concerns and if so how might they be addressed (ie by means of protocol, declaration etc?)
The party's European spokeswoman, Senator Deirdre de Búrca, said the Greens had always been an extremely open and democratic organisation and this had served them well when facing important decisions, such as entering government.
"We want to know what some of our members felt was wrong with the treaty, and we want to be able to confidently and constructively chart a way forward," she said.
Members are asked to send their responses to info@greenparty.ie (Subject: Lisbon Treaty) or by post to 16 Suffolk Street, Dublin 2, by August 25th. The party wants to be in a position to offer pragmatic solutions to the current situation in the autumn.
