COWEN SPEECH: A REJECTION of the Lisbon Treaty would take Ireland "down a new and more uncertain route", the Taoiseach said yesterday.
However, speaking before he addressed an Ógra Fianna Fáil rally, Brian Cowen expressed confidence that the Yes campaign would win the referendum.
Mr Cowen told younger voters: "For you, the generation that can shape Ireland in the decades ahead, there is unlikely to be another vote as important as this one. I believe in the common sense and discernment of our people.
"I think people can see through the tactics that have been employed, and I think a majority will support this proposition."
In his speech to Ógra Fianna Fáil at the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin, he said he believed that the Lisbon Treaty, if passed, would settle the EU's internal rules for "perhaps one, two, three decades ahead".
"It really is about deciding whether to move forward as positive members of the EU, or whether we take a new and far more uncertain route," he said.
He used the phrase "a new and far more uncertain route" three times within three minutes during his 25-minute speech.
"I don't believe it is in the interests of this country to decide to take a new and far more uncertain route," he said.
What had been achieved in the negotiations on the Lisbon Treaty was "a balanced, honourable and decent compromise consistent with the community of values represented by the membership of the EU.
"It recognises that there are things best done at State level, and there are other things which are best done at EU level. That is my fundamental belief.
"It is in the interest of this country to vote Yes because it will be good for Ireland, good for Europe," Mr Cowen said, in a speech which followed a weekend of intensive campaigning.
Rejecting the arguments put forward by the No camp, he said: "I start from the belief that the EU has been the greatest enabler of our sovereignty, the best promoter of our interests and the best protector of our identity.
"Ireland as a sovereign nation can best express its values in concert with others, in making common policies consistent with common values.
"The idea that there are conspiracies that are trying to do down our country, that are trying to stop us from being who we are - nothing could be further from the truth. All of those on the No side have consistently in every EU debate put forward the same tired arguments."
Urging a Yes vote, he went on: "If we want a future of opportunity then we must be true to the European Union and help it to move forward, not back. We cannot go back. We must go forward. The rest of the world is not waiting. China, India and other parts are quite rightly trying to improve the quality of life of their own people.
"The rate of change, while inevitable, can be managed. It can be managed consistent with our values and showing solidarity with our friends. The idea that we can stand still, the idea that change can be avoided, that we live away in isolation from the trends that are growing all the time [ is wrong]," he said. "All of our concerns are being accommodated. There is nothing in this treaty to be concerned about."
Another senior Fianna Fáil Cabinet member, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin, yesterday sharply criticised the anti-Lisbon Treaty group, Libertas, for its "misleading claims" on a range of issues.
He accused Libertas founder Declan Ganley of inventing threats posed to Ireland by the treaty and refusing to withdraw them, "even when confronted with overwhelming refutation by independent sources".
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The full text of the Taoiseach's speech on the Lisbon Treaty is available here www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0608/breaking50.htm
