THE MAIN Dáil parties pledged to work together to secure a Yes vote in the second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty after Taoiseach Brian Cowen announced yesterday that the vote will take place on Friday, October 2nd.
Mr Cowen told the Dáil that Fianna Fail would co-operate with other party organisations to ensure “a coherent and cogent position” was put to the public.
Welcoming the announcement of the date, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said that on the last occasion, the political parties had failed to properly inform the public how a Yes vote would strengthen Ireland’s position in Europe.
“I would not underestimate the strength of the feeling of confusion that exists and am not led by opinion polls that indicate the referendum is just an exercise to be gone through.
“There is a hard campaign to be fought in order to explain, inform and brief people fully so they are happy in the knowledge they can vote Yes,” said Mr Kenny.
Minister of State for European Affairs Dick Roche appealed to all members of the Dáil who believe a Yes vote is in the best interests of the country to put their differences aside and to focus on a common message.
“Last year’s campaign was not our best hour. Squabbling deflected from the message supported by well over 95 per cent of the membership of Dáil and Seanad Éireann. That must not be allowed to happen again,” said the Minister. “There is no room for complacency. What is needed now is a united effort to achieve the common purpose of keeping Ireland at the heart of Europe,” he said.
Labour Party European spokesman Joe Costello said all politicians in favour of a Yes vote must treat the forthcoming referendum as though it were an election. “We must knock on doors and persuade the electorate as though we were asking for their personal vote,” he said.
In a statement on behalf of Sinn Féin, the only Dáil party opposed to the Lisbon Treaty, its European spokesman Aengus Ó Snodaigh accused the Taoiseach of failing the people of Ireland and Europe by holding a second referendum.
He said he was opposed to the adoption of the treaty until such time as ‘‘we have a new treaty that responds to the deeply held concerns, not only of the citizens of this member state, but the millions of people across the EU. . .”
The Green Party will hold a special conference in Dublin on Saturday week to decide its position on the second referendum. A two-thirds majority will be required to enable the party to formally support the Yes campaign, although the parliamentary party will back the treaty as it did in the first Lisbon referendum. Former president of the European Parliament Pat Cox said a Yes vote in the forthcoming referendum would be a vital step in rebuilding Ireland’s path to economic progress. “It would be an emphatic statement by the Irish people about where we stand and where we belong,” said Mr Cox, the campaign director of Ireland for Europe, an independent civil society group promoting ratification of the treaty.