OPPOSITION:FIANNA FÁIL says it will examine the final text of the proposed European Union fiscal treaty agreed last night before deciding whether to support calls for a referendum. Left-wing parties, however, are already arguing for one.
Sinn Féin yesterday accused the Government of running scared and claimed that if a referendum was held, the No side would win. Foreign affairs spokesman Pádraig Mac Lochlainn accused the Government of actively seeking to have the treaty text watered down to avoid a referendum.
“The Taoiseach has said that the Government have nothing to worry about in terms of a referendum. Well, call a referendum,” the Donegal North East TD said. “Three-quarters of the Irish people in a poll have said that they want a referendum to take place.
“If he is sincere, his action has to match his words,” Mr Mac Lochlainn added. “It is very clear that, in the negotiations around this treaty as it has moved through the different drafts, the Irish Government have actively sought to weaken the text so as to avoid a referendum.”
Sinn Féin would take its own legal advice, with a view to mounting a legal challenge if the Government decided against a referendum.
Fianna Fáil would adopt a similar approach, said its finance spokesman, Michael McGrath.
“We accept certainly there is a need for fiscal discipline on budgetary matters but it really only is part of the solution,” he said.
“If it [the treaty] does involve permanent structural changes to how Ireland interacts with Europe in terms of our national budgets, then I think that is something the Irish people would like to have their say on,” he told RTÉ Radio One’s Drivetime.
He welcomed the indications from Brussels “that the leaders are looking seriously at the whole area of jobs and growth but it does remain to be seen whether or not that is window-dressing”.
Since the previous summit in December, the focus had been “almost exclusively on the fiscal side”. Mr McGrath said it was necessary to have “a broader strategy that does put jobs and growth at the centre”.
Socialist Party MEP for Dublin, Paul Murphy said the German government was leading a series of attacks on basic democratic rights in the pursuit of austerity.
“Not content with replacing elected governments with bankers’ governments in Greece and Italy, the German government has now called for full budgetary powers to pass into the hands of a ‘budget commissioner’ sent to Greece.
“This is the equivalent of the appointment of governors-general by imperialist powers in the past, to rule over colonies with an iron fist. This should send a clear warning to all about the real nature of the so-called fiscal treaty.”
