Kenny warns against State becoming isolated in EU

FINE GAEL leader Enda Kenny warned against Ireland becoming isolated in Europe.

“We do not want a situation where 26 other countries decide to move off in a different direction, or at a different speed, which would be the worst of all worlds for our citizens,” he said.

The vote was not against the European project, the European process or the European concept, said Mr Kenny.

“It was a demonstration of the right of people to put down a clear marker, which has had reverberations all over Europe and beyond,” he added.

The Government’s challenge was to ensure that the people’s anxieties and fears were reflected, dealt with and clarified and, at the same time, that Ireland could contribute to the solution of the progress of Europe.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said that the treaty had not been easy to communicate.

It must be admitted, he added, that the result also reflected an erosion of confidence in politics.

“The people did not accept the advice of the main political parties,” said Mr Gilmore.

“That erosion of confidence, which is not unrelated to a decade of revelations at tribunals, must be of real concern.”

Ireland was facing its biggest diplomatic challenge since the second World War.

“Fifty years of foreign policy, centred on the objective of putting Ireland at the heart of Europe, and the many patent accomplishments won on the back of that policy, are now at stake,” he added.

Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said that the people had reached their verdict, despite the hectoring of many people in the political and media establishment.

“This was not a vote about whether we should remain in the EU . . . that question was not on the agenda . . . it was a vote about the type of EU we want to help to develop,” he added.

“Will it be an EU of political elites and bureaucrats, or will it be a democratic Europe of the people?”

Green Party leader John Gormley said he shared the concerns expressed about the level of misinformation which was evident throughout the referendum campaign.

“I do not accuse everyone associated with the No campaign of using such tactics,” he added.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said he was absolutely convinced that the Irish people remained strong supporters of Europe and Ireland’s place at the heart of it.

“Indeed, it was a notable feature of the campaign that, in the main, even those opposed to the treaty professed their commitment to the EU,” he added.

Minister for Health Mary Harney said it was difficult to see where Ireland went next. “If the deputies from 25 out of the 26 counties in the country wanted to proceed in a certain direction, and one county was holding us all up, I can imagine that a poor view would be taken in this House,” she added.

While European colleagues had expressed solidarity, they would be equally impatient to move forward, she added.