LABOUR PARTY leader Eamon Gilmore has appealed to voters who are angry and frustrated with Fianna Fáil not to use the Lisbon Treaty referendum to inflict a blow on the Government.
Speaking at the formal launch of the party’s campaign for a Yes vote, Mr Gilmore said that voters were rightly angry at the Government’s “reckless and irresponsible” actions, which have plunged the country into an economic crisis.
But he said these issues had nothing to do with the Lisbon Treaty and warned that a “second defeat for the Lisbon Treaty will do more damage to the country than it will to Fianna Fáil”.
He added: “If voters can be persuaded to put domestic political issues to one side and judge the Lisbon Treaty on its merits, then I believe that it can be carried.”
Mr Gilmore has pledged to fight a “general election style” campaign in favour of the Lisbon Treaty, after acknowledging that it made mistakes during the last referendum.
He admitted that Labour’s personalised campaign in favour of Lisbon last year – in which the party used images of Mr Gilmore and election candidates rather than emphasising the issues – had not worked.
“I acknowledge that we made mistakes the last time around. This time we have to concentrate on winning the argument,” he said.
The theme of Labour’s campaign is Work with Europe, accompanied by posters with work and education-related images, such as yellow hard hats and mortar-boards.
Mr Gilmore rejected suggestions that the party was sending mixed messages to the rank and file members, as well as voters, after he declared the treaty “dead in the water” after it was rejected by voters last year.
This time around, a different package was being put before voters, including commitments such as the retention of an EU commissioner, he said.
The party has identified three main reasons why voters should vote Yes in next month’s referendum:
To help restore international confidence in Ireland so that jobs and businesses can be secured here;
n To enable Europe to function more efficiently and democratically, to help get Europe and Ireland out of the economic crisis;
n To improve the rights of the individual in Europe – as citizens, workers and consumers.
Mr Gilmore said voters were facing a critical decision that would define Ireland’s relationship with Europe for generations to come. He also warned that complacency would be the greatest obstacle in what promises to be a very challenging campaign.
“The Labour Party campaigned for a Yes vote in last year’s referendum because we believed then – as we believe now – that the Lisbon Treaty will lead to a better European Union for its people,” Mr Gilmore said.
He said it would make the EU more democratic, improve its capacity to deal with major international problems such as climate change, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights would steer the EU towards a progressive, human-rights-based Europe that would benefit all of citizens.
The past 12 months had been extremely damaging for Ireland’s reputation internationally, he said.
Mr Gilmore added: “A further No vote would do yet more damage. A strong Yes vote on the other hand will show that Ireland is open for business, that we welcome inward investment and the jobs that it brings, and that we are fully engaged and committed members of the EU.”