Alliance launches Treaty campaign

The Irish Alliance for Europe has launched its Yes campaign for the forthcoming Lisbon Treaty referendum, arguing that it “protects Irish interests and values”.

Chairman of the IAE Ruairí Quinn said the non-party group would conduct a "vigorous" campaign across Ireland in advance of the referendum next month.

He said the IAE would focus in particular on "correcting the distortions and misrepresentations of the Treaty" created by the No campaign.

The former Labour Party minister for finance said his organisation believed the Treaty, with its implications for Ireland, was "far too important" to be left to the political parties alone.

"We represent a coming together of organisations and people from every walk of Irish life, business men, farmers, trade unionists, students, academics and environmentalists," he said. "We seek to offer a view of the Treaty from people who have spent their entire working lives seeing the benefits of Ireland's engagement with Europe."

He said the Lisbon Treaty allows the 27-member European Union to "take the structures which created the last 50 years of peace  and prosperity in Europe and equip them to deal with the challenges of a globalised and inter-dependent world in the next 50".

Earlier this week, Mr Quinn accepted there was “a lot of work to do” after an opinion poll found 80 per cent of the population do not understand the Treaty. The Referendum Commission survey found that just 5 per cent understood the treaty, while 15 per cent understood it to some degree.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern warned last weekend that a No vote in the upcoming referendum on the Lisbon Treaty would be a "disaster for the country". He said it would have "repercussions that would do immense damage to Ireland".  The Treaty is supported by all the main political parties except for Sinn Féin.

The IAE's campaign panel includes former Fine Gael taoiseach Dr Garret FitzGerald, former Progressive Democrats MEP and President of the European Parliament Pat Cox and former minister for foreign affairs Michael O'Kennedy.

The director general of Ibec Turlough O’Sullivan and the Principal of the UCD College of Human Sciences Brigid Laffan are also supporting the campaign.