Voting No in the Nice Treaty referendum will "halt the slide towards militarisation," the Socialist Workers' Party said today.
"The Nice Treaty sets up the legal framework for a political and security committee, which will organise this force [Rapid Reaction Force]. But by voting No we can halt the slide to militarisation," Party Chairperson Mr Richard Boyd Barrett said at a press conference today.
"No one should believe the statements that Irish neutrality is protected by Nice. The assurances are coming from the same Government that has allowed the US army to use Shannon airport without consulting or informing the Dáil," he added.
Ms Brid Smith from the party and spokesperson for the campaign against the bin tax also warned workers against voting Yes.
"Big business wants us to vote Yes and the employers organisation IBEC is spending half a million euro to buy this referendum. That is reason alone why workers should pause and look to the arguments of the No side," she said.
"IBEC would be better off paying proper redundancy payments to IGB [Irish Glass Bottle] workers than trying to fix a referendum," Ms Smith added.
