THE HEAD of a major multinational’s Irish operation said yesterday he would be campaigning actively for a Yes vote in the Lisbon Treaty referendum because of the need for Ireland to remain fully involved with the EU.
Voting Yes to Lisbon was “hugely important” for the future of foreign investment in this country, the general manager of Intel Ireland, Jim O’Hara, told a press conference at the Science Gallery in Trinity College Dublin.
His company would be spending “a few hundred thousand euro” promoting a Yes vote. The Intel campaign would be conducted through “media interviews, adverts in newspapers and posters, and whatever other media outlets that are appropriate”. He had the support of the wider Intel Corporation in his efforts.
He said he was responsible for Intel’s involvement in the referendum. “I initiated that; I went to Intel and I told them that I thought it was hugely important that we speak up on this matter.”
The Intel campaign would be focused on business. “I don’t intend or want to get involved in the wider political issues with respect to the referendum.”
Mr O’Hara, who hails from Cabra West in Dublin, said: “This is our 20th anniversary in Ireland, and I’m delighted to say we hope to be here for at least another 20 years. Our cumulative investment in Ireland has been in excess of $7 billion.”
The Intel Ireland workforce was “a little over 4,000”.
Asked about claims that the treaty promoted the militarisation of the EU, Mr O’Hara said he had “particularly no view on that”.
His message was that “it matters to business that we stay fully connected to Europe”.
When it was put to him that the No campaign would regard this participation as confirmation of claims that the EU was an instrument of the multinationals, Mr O’Hara said: “I, as a stakeholder in this country, as a citizen of this country, someone with kids, grandkids in this country, feel passionately that this is an important enough issue for us to at least be clear on and at least be clear and direct to the people who matter: the voters.”
He regretted not having participated in the last referendum when Lisbon was defeated. “Quite frankly, I and many others probably had the lazy thought that the Yes vote would carry.”
He added: “On reflection, I think it’s such a huge issue for this country and because it’s such a huge issue it’s very important that business people like me speak out and get the message across to people, for their simple consideration. And the message is that being centre-stage as part of Europe has benefited this country hugely in the past and will continue to benefit us in the future.”
The reasons why multinationals came to Ireland included “low corporate tax rate, well-educated workforce, competitive cost structures and the fact that Ireland was a part of the EU; it was a gateway into the EU. So most multinationals made those choices in the full belief that an investment in Ireland was an investment in Europe.”