Cox to canvass in favour of referendum

The President of the European Parliament, Mr Pat Cox, plans to spend several weeks in Ireland canvassing for a Yes vote in the Nice referendum. He has agreed to speak at meetings organised by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, farmers and the business community but intends to carry out as much face-to-face canvassing as possible.

Independent MEP Mrs Dana Rosemary Scallon said she was still opposed to Nice: "The fact that they are presenting a treaty again that the people of Ireland already decided on is disgraceful."

Speaking in his office at the Parliament, Mr Cox said his plans were not finalised, pending the announcement of a referendum date. He intends to "try as far as I can to free up my diary to spend as much time as I can on the ground in Ireland".

The Munster MEP will approach it "as if I was running my own European election campaign". But he will not confine himself to the Munster constituency.

He is to speak at a conference about Nice organised by employers' organisation IBEC on September 20th, and will address the Irish Farmers' Association and the Local and Municipal Authorities' Association. Mr Cox has accepted an invitation "which I am very pleased to get" to speak at the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party's "think-in" on Nice, which takes place in Killarney on September 17th and 18th. He has also agreed to speak at a Fine Gael meeting on Nice in Galway on October 14th.

He is scheduled to speak on EU enlargement at University College Dublin in October and will give addresses to the Association of European Journalists and a conference on central Europe to be held at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin.

Mr Cox said he had made a point of visiting candidate countries as much as possible since his election as president of the Parliament and had met people who risked their lives and served time in prison to bring about the democratic transformation of central and eastern Europe.

Yesterday in Strasbourg, Mrs Dana Rosemary Scallon said the second referendum was undemocratic. She said it was a case of "go back and ask until you get the answer you want". She said that she would be voting No again. "If they change the treaty I will look at my vote, but since they haven't changed the treaty why should I change my vote?"