Lisbon Treaty: former political leaders launch Yes campaignTHE LISBON Treaty is "the best possible deal" for Ireland and provides the necessary tools to deal with the challenges of the 21st century, according to Ruairí Quinn, chairman of the Irish Alliance for Europe and former finance minister.
At the launch yesterday of the alliance's "Yes to Lisbon" campaign in Dublin, Mr Quinn emphasised that the issue was too important to be left to politicians and that other sectors must be brought into the debate.
"The Irish Alliance for Europe is an organisation that has come together from across every section of Irish society. We believe Ireland's place at the centre of Europe is so important that the case for Ireland in Europe cannot be left to the political parties alone.
"We represent a coming together of organisations and people from every walk of Irish life: businessmen, farmers, trade unionists, students, academics and environmentalists.
"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, experts and laypeople who passionately believe in this treaty and will bring their passion, knowledge and experience to the Yes campaign," Mr Quinn said.
The former leader of the Labour Party introduced a panel of public figures who would be "actively supporting" the alliance campaign: former taoiseach Dr Garret FitzGerald; former president of the European Parliament Pat Cox; Prof Brigid Laffan of University College Dublin; director general of Ibec (Irish Business and Employers Confederation) Turlough O'Sullivan; and former European commissioner Michael O'Kennedy.
The alliance would be directed by Brendan Kiely, said Mr Quinn.
"We will be waging an extensive campaign to inform the electorate of the benefits to Ireland and Europe of the Lisbon Reform Treaty, from Dublin to Doolin and from Cork to Donegal."
The alliance would be raising funds to finance its Lisbon campaign. He calculated that €750,000 was required to conduct a proper national campaign. Raising that amount of money would not be easy, he said.
"We'll spend what we get," he told The Irish Times.
"Today's European Union has 27 member states. It is clear that you cannot run a union with machinery designed for a community of six, especially when the challenges that face the union today are completely different from those that confronted the original six members 51 years ago.
"The Lisbon Treaty extends co-operation into areas of crime prevention, energy and the fight against climate change," Mr Quinn said. "Europe needs to be capable of dealing with these challenges and the Lisbon Treaty creates the framework within which Europe will be able to address these issues."
Anti-treaty think-tank Libertas said the alliance "should wake up to the fact" that "pro-Europe" did not always equate with "pro-Brussels".
Libertas campaign director David Cochrane said the Alliance was preparing to spend €750,000, "on a campaign to scare Irish people into supporting the Lisbon treaty".
"I have only one question for the Alliance for Europe. Why is it a good idea for Ireland to give up its right to veto future world trade agreements, given the risk of the current round of talks to the Irish farming community?
"It's simply unfortunate that they think that a commitment to Europe means joining with Bertie Ahern and Enda Kenny in trying to sell the Irish people a contract for a weaker Ireland," Mr Cochrane added.
Fianna Fáil MEP Eoin Ryan said the treaty "does not create any new policies which would adversely affect Ireland in any way. This treaty will ensure that the EU will carry out its business in more simplified and effective manner."