Councillors call for Lisbon No vote

An alliance of 135 councillors has called for a No vote in the Lisbon Treaty referendum stating that its ratification would undermine democracy, further militarise the EU and pave the way for the privitisation of public services.

The group said that the policies of local government management involving privatisation, outsourcing and Public Private Partnerships have “seriously undermined the quality of essential services and community development” and that ratifying the Lisbon Treaty would copperfasten this approach.

They said that, under Lisbon, the role of local councillors would be “further eroded to that of powerless observers of private companies, national and international, profiteering from public service that should be available to their communities irrespective of income or ability to pay.”

The group includes councillors from 26 counties including Independents, members of Sinn Féin, the People Before Profit Alliance, the Socialist Party, and Labour, which has stated its support for the Treaty.

A Labour spokesman said its three councillors involved in the alliance - Patrick Nulty (Dublin West), Collette Connolly (Galway) and Jane Dillon Byrne (Dun Laoghaire) - were expressing their own individual views and did not reflect the position of the party.

Cllr Dillon Byrne said, in a statement, that neutrality was the issue that brought her to the No side.

“It legalises the battle groups and expands the tasks for which they can be used,” she said.

At a press conference in Dublin today, Cllr Richard Boyd Barrett of the People Before Profit Alliance said the rerunning of the referendum was causing much anger and frustration among the public and was an “affront to democracy” at a time when the Government should be attempting to drag the country out of a deep economic crisis.

He said the difficult economic situation was created by policies pushed by the EU and parties that supported Lisbon and that this was conclusive proof that the Treaty should be rejected.

Chris O’Leary, an Independent member of Cork City Council who previously represented the Green Party, said the Yes campaign had made false claims about that treaty and that voting Yes was not simply a matter of Ireland being in or out of the European Union.

Catherine Connolly, an Independent member of of Galway City Council, said the Lisbon Treaty was not good for women, pushed for militarisation of the EU and that, even as a barrister, the Treaty was difficult to understand.