RATIFICATION OF the Lisbon Treaty would enable us to tackle international problems such as climate change and food safety which Ireland would have little hope of overcoming on its own, Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin declared yesterday.
Many of the issues facing Ireland were large and complicated, and required a response greater than Ireland’s alone if they were to be overcome, said Ms Hanafin, instancing the example of human trafficking and how the EU was helping to combat the problem.
“The union provides us with an ideal framework for taking on the gangs at the centre of this vile trade. The gangs respect no borders in their criminality, so our response cannot be country-bound either. We have enjoyed some critical successes in this area already, but if the Treaty of Lisbon comes into force, we can raise our game again.”
Ms Hanafin, who was speaking at a conference on Irish Women’s Voices on Europe hosted by the department of government at University College Cork, said there appeared to be a degree of hesitation among Irish women about Ireland’s participation in the EU.
There was a great irony about this given that the EU had been a force for good for Irish women, “cajoling our society at a less-enlightened time to recognise the rights owed to half our citizens”.
She said polling after the last referendum showed that concerns about Irish neutrality weighed heavily on the minds of Irish women, but she was hopeful that robust guarantees agreed with the other EU countries would address people’s concerns this time.
A lecturer at the Smurfit college of business and law at University College Dublin, Dr Gavin Barrett, told the conference the only way that Ireland could retain a commissioner was to vote Yes.
Dr Barrett said if the existing treaties remained in force the number of commission members would have to be reduced and Ireland would lose its commissioner, which was something which appeared to be of great importance to No campaigners in last year’s vote.
He said as the Lisbon Treaty comes into force, the guarantees would come into force as they constitute an international treaty, and the guarantees would become protocols at the next enlargement which means they would be equal in status to the treaty text.
