REACTION:FINE GAEL leader Enda Kenny has proposed that Government and Opposition parties who support the Lisbon Treaty should hold talks on the campaign for a Yes vote and he has suggested the referendum should take place on October 2nd.
Speaking to reporters at Leinster House, he said: “You don’t want a situation where there are conflicting messages about the same issue from parties that are in support of the referendum.
“This is a fundamental question for the future of Ireland, where we want our country to be at the heart of a Europe that is accountable, that is democratic and that is transparent.”
Asked if the three main parties, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour, should establish a joint campaign, Mr Kenny said: “I would invite the Government and indeed the Labour Party to discuss the nature of the kind of campaign that parties in favour of the referendum can actually run.
“I do think it’s important that, while Fine Gael will run a very strong campaign, the nature of the message and the communicating of that message be the same, because you don’t want further confusion or any conflict of message about what Lisbon says, from parties that actually support it.
“So I would invite the Government and indeed the Labour Party to talks about how best that can be structured from the parties that actually support the campaign, in terms of communicating the message that is important about Lisbon.”
Asked whether he favoured a specific date for the referendum, he replied: “I would suggest October 2nd as being an appropriate date, though it’s not for me, that’s not my call.”
However, the Labour Party leader was more circumspect as to what form inter-party co-operation in the Yes campaign should take and Mr Gilmore told reporters earlier: “Well I think that’s something for the future. We obviously will have to look at what type of campaign we will run on it. That’s for another day.”
Asked if he was concerned that voters would use opposition to the treaty as a device for getting rid of the Government, Mr Gilmore said: “Nobody wants to get rid of this Government more than I do.
“We have to separate out our dislike of the Government, our opposition to what it is doing, by doing the right thing now for the country, and that’s the approach that the Labour Party is going to take on it and the approach we have been taking on it. It would be irresponsible to take the view that we should do something that would be bad for the country simply because we want to give a kicking to the Government.”
Welcoming the European Council decision to approve the guarantees for Ireland with protocols to follow, the Labour leader urged voters to make a distinction between the Government and the Lisbon Treaty.
“I think that we have to stand back from this a little, I mean this is now about Ireland’s reputation internationally. It is important that Ireland’s reputation and standing internationally and its relationship with Europe is restored,” Mr Gilmore said.
Green Party leader and Environment Minister John Gormley said the guarantees would “allow a new discussion within the Green Party leading to a special members’ convention to decide the party’s stance on Lisbon ahead of the referendum expected this autumn”.
He was “especially pleased” with the guarantees relating to Ireland’s military neutrality – including restrictions on involvement in the European Defence Agency.
Independent TD Finian McGrath, who opposed the treaty in the last referendum, has indicated that he may change his mind this time.
Revealing that he held discussions with Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin last Wednesday evening, he said: “We appear to be moving in the right direction and all members of the Oireachtas should put Ireland first and stop playing politics on this issue at this crucial time for our country.”
