Fianna Fáil MEPs gripped by treaty fever on all issues

WEEK IN STRASBOURG:THE EXCITEMENT of the forthcoming referendum on the Lisbon Treaty was somewhat less than palpable in Strasbourg this week. For most MEPs it was business as usual with a focus on climate change and Common Agricultural Policy (Cap) reform.

Except for the Fianna Fáil MEPs who were in the full grip of Lisbon fever. For Fianna Fáil, it seems, Lisbon has a relevance to every possible issue, from agricultural reform to funding for peace initiatives, with a No vote having the potential effect of either robbing Ireland of any power in future negotiations, or showing the Irish up as an ungrateful lot.

It was a week when the first report written in Irish was presented to the parliament. The report, Sinn Féin MEP Bairbre de Brún's evaluation of EU-funded peace initiatives in Northern Ireland, was well received in the parliament.

However, Fianna Fáil's Seán Ó Neachtáin said this made it all the more astounding that Sinn Féin was campaigning for a No to Lisbon.

"It is absolutely incredible that some of the people who have benefited most from direct EU financial support from Europe to the peace process in Ireland, namely the Sinn Féin party, is leading the No campaign against the EU Lisbon Reform Treaty," he said.

"If Sinn Féin had their way, Ireland would not be in the EU, Ireland would not be in the internal market, Ireland would not be in the euro zone, and Ireland would not have received financial support from Europe for the peace process."

Ms De Brún's report, which found that EU peace funding had contributed greatly to reconciliation and "peace-building" in Ireland, was also criticised by former DUP member Jim Allister.

The Northern Ireland MEP said the funding had not been fairly distributed and that the "majority community has had less than the minority".

Independent MEP Marian Harkin said Mr Allister's negative comments had been disappointing, especially as peace funding had contributed to the ending of the conflict.

Mr Allister also ruffled the feathers of Fine Gael MEP Gay Mitchell this week when he said Protestants were being denied equal access to positions in the PSNI because of a positive discrimination towards Catholics.

Mr Allister's assertion was untrue and outrageous, Mr Mitchell said. "There are many aspects of the Good Friday agreement which we could all selectively quote. Suggesting there is discrimination against Protestants in the PSNI is outrageous."

The long tentacles of the Lisbon Treaty also found their way into Fianna Fáil pronouncements on the World Trade Organisation and on Cap reform, with Mr Ó Neachtáin, Liam Aylward, Brian Crowley and Eoin Ryan all warning that Ireland would be left out in the cold when it came to decisions on these issues, if there was a No Vote.

A Yes vote would help secure the future of Irish farming, Mr Aylward said.