OPPONENTS OF the Lisbon Treaty last night predicted plenty of mud-slinging and slurs and a more co-ordinated effort from the Yes side in the run-up to the October 2nd referendum.
Sinn Féin vice-president and former MEP Mary Lou McDonald said she expected people who were against the treaty to be accused of being “isolationist and backward” and of “having their heads in the sand”.
“They will say by voting No we are going to cause an even greater recession and depression,” she said. “This is dishonest and cynical. We need to be united enough as a campaign to see it off and give people the facts.”
Speaking at a meeting organised by the Campaign Against the EU Constitution (CAEUC), Ms McDonald said the same treaty rejected by the public last year was being put to them again.
“The guarantees received by the Government are camouflage, a decoy for public opinion to say that the Government took heed and acted on the mandate the people gave them.”
On neutrality, she said the Lisbon Treaty deepened EU ties to Nato, called for more focus on weaponry and could bring an end to member states having their own individual foreign policies.
Councillor Bríd Smith of the People Before Profit Alliance said the No campaign last year defeated a political and media consensus which favoured Lisbon. She said a strong bias in favour of the treaty had been shown by RTÉ and that, with six weeks to go, the No campaign faced an uphill battle.
Ms Smith said the Government was experiencing a tough period and that unfavourable items such as the report of An Bord Snip Nua and Nama should be linked to the campaign.
Jimmy Kelly of the Unite trade union said the treaty would pave the way for the privatisation of healthcare and education.
