Two of Ireland's 13 MEPs are preparing to vote against the appointment of the European Commission tomorrow in the wake of the controversy over Italian nominee Mr Rocco Buttiglione's views and record on the treatment of homosexuals and other minorities.
The five Fine Gael MEPs and four from Fianna Fáil have confirmed they will vote in the European Parliament to appoint the Commission. But Labour's Mr Proinsias De Rossa and Sinn Féin's Ms Mary Lou McDonald have said they will vote against the Commission unless Mr Buttiglione is moved from the justice and home affairs portfolio before tomorrow.
Independent, Ms Marian Harkin, says she has not yet made up her mind, while the other Independent, Ms Kathy Sinnott, could not be contacted for comment.
Fianna Fáil MEPs, who are going to vote Yes en bloc, were keen to stress yesterday that the vote was not specifically on the suitability of Mr Buttiglione, but on the Commission as a whole.
The leader of the Fianna Fáil group, Mr Brian Crowley, said yesterday Mr Buttiglione had stated that as a public representative he would not support discrimination against anybody. Mr Crowley said his group recognised that member-states nominated the people they felt would make the best commissioners, "and we respect their right to do that".
The party's Connacht/Ulster MEP, Mr Seán Ó Neachtáin, said he and the others in his group had met Mr Buttiglione a few days ago. "I questioned him about these remarks, and as far as I am concerned he has the right to state his religious views." He had expressed those views "perhaps not wisely" but he had been "labelled by those who want to have a go at the Christian ethos of Europe". Mr Ó Neachtáin said 22 of 25 commissioners had come through the parliamentary hearings "with no question marks against them" so he believed the Commission was deserving of support.
His Dublin party colleague, Mr Eoin Ryan, said Mr Buttiglione "seems to have clarified the situation and said he would not discriminate against anybody".
Mr De Rossa said he would be voting against the Commission if Mr Buttiglione is not shifted from his current portfolio, and will abstain if he is moved. "The issue is not his discrimination. He has actively opposed such legislation in Italy. The issue is whether he can carry out his business as an EU commissioner."
He said Mr Buttiglione's views were not a private matter, as he had applied his "pro-active deeply conservative Catholic position" to his public role in the past. "He has operated in all cases in line with the advice he gets from the Vatican instead of the advice he gets from the people."
The leader of the Fine Gael group, Ms Avril Doyle, said that while her party had "registered serious concerns about the lack of tolerance expressed in Mr Buttiglione's statements" on certain issues, "we accept his right to his own strongly-held orthodox Catholic views". She said the Fine Gael MEPs would vote in favour of the Commission although perhaps Mr Buttiglione was "the right man in the wrong job".
Fine Gael MEP, Mr Simon Coveney, said he would vote in favour of the Commission. He said he was "not overly comfortable" with Ms Doyle's statement that Mr Buttiglione was "the right man in the wrong job".
"I feel there is a bit of a witch hunt going on here. He should have been more careful in how he phrased his responses to questions, but the inferences that have been made in relation to him are unfair."
Ms Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Féin does not accept that the opposition to Mr Buttiglione is because of his religion. She said he had made "very offensive statements about women, single parents and gay people"and MEPs had to decide if he was capable of operating in the civic sphere in a way that did not "allow those religious views to intrude". She said Mr Barroso had until tomorrow to change Mr Buttiglione's role or she would vote against the Commission.
Independent Connacht/Ulster MEP, Ms Marian Harkin, who is a member of the Parliament's liberal group which is divided on the issue, said she had not yet decided how to vote. She questioned the relevance of the European Parliament hearings on the Commission if their outcome could simply be ignored. She said she felt Mr Barroso had to take into account the views of the committee who voted against the Italian.
She said the fact that Mr Buttiglione had attempted to remove sexual orientation from a list of prohibited grounds for discrimination in the EU charter of fundamental rights meant his views were a public issue and not a private matter.
EU constitution: information campaign to begin
A Government information campaign on the new European constitution will begin on Friday with the launch of a short explanatory document.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has acknowledged that "we cannot take things for granted".
He told the Dáil last week, he was "apprehensive" that the public was not aware of the benefits of the new constitution to Irish society.
The referendum on the new constitution, agreed during Ireland's presidency of the EU, is likely to take place next year.
EU government leaders will formally sign the new treaty on Friday in Rome.
To mark the occasion, the explanatory leaflet will be launched and will be available in libraries and all public and community buildings.A longer, more detailed leaflet will be published later.
Marie O'Halloran