FUNDING:LIBERTAS HAS paid the €350,000 debts amassed by its Dutch branch following the threat of legal action.
Eline van den Broek, the 28-year-old political scientist who led Libertas in the Netherlands, said yesterday all the debts had been paid in recent weeks.
“The Dutch creditors, 30 or so different companies, were in the process of starting legal action just before they got the payment,” said Ms van den Broek, who added she remained “on pretty good terms” with Mr Ganley.
“I still support Declan’s mission, although I was disappointed in the way things went for the Libertas campaign in the Netherlands,” she added.
In an interview in June after the European election campaign, Ms van den Broek said: “At this moment I have total bills of €350,000, which are in Declan’s name. I am not personally responsible for them.”
Ms van den Broek had travelled to Galway during the election campaign to meet Mr Ganley. “I travelled to his home in Galway and waited until 2am to speak to him. When he came back from canvassing he told me he would pay the money,” she said at the time.
A Libertas spokesman confirmed yesterday the debts had been cleared in the Netherlands in full. “It was always our intention to pay the money back. For any losing campaign it takes a little longer to pay back the bills,” he said.
“To my knowledge, there aren’t any unpaid debts outstanding.”
Ms van den Broek, who has resigned her position in the Dutch branch of Libertas, said she was currently organising a campaign against the Lisbon Treaty in the Netherlands ahead of the October 2nd Irish referendum.
“I am organising support from No campaigners in the Netherlands to show the Irish people that they are not by themselves in this campaign,” she said.
She said there would be a protest outside the Irish Embassy in the Netherlands some time in the next two weeks. The protest would feature some of the Dutch people who voted against the EU constitution in 2005.
Meanwhile, Libertas has also said it has paid all outstanding bills in Ireland arising from its participation in the European elections in June.
Spokesman John McGuirk acknowledged some “hefty” advertising bills remained unpaid until mid-August because of “cashflow issues” in the political grouping.
However, he said these had since been cleared and the organisation was now debt-free as it embarked on a fresh fundraising drive for campaign on the second Lisbon Treaty referendum.