Lisbon No vote brings isolation - Lenihan

Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan warned today that a No vote on the Lisbon Treaty would be a "step into isolation for Ireland."

Mr Lenihan, who made the comments after a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels, said a No vote would damage the Irish economy.

Earlier in the day, the Minister addressed the EU American Chamber of Commerce where he said that membership of the European Union had brought “countless benefits” for Ireland.

“We are the only Member State to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. We have an opportunity to demonstrate once again our strong commitment to Europe, which has been of such enormous benefit to Ireland, and our strong commitment to the principle of reform of institutions to improve their efficiency and effectiveness, said Mr Lenihan.

The Minister said that ratification of the treaty would not affect Ireland's neutrality and does not change any of the existing arrangements in relation to taxation matters. Mr Lenihan

“A Yes vote to the Lisbon Treaty will ensure that Ireland remains at the centre of a more effective and efficient European Union. It is precisely this status that has brought us the high level of foreign direct investment that we have achieved thus far. I believe the single market will become even more important as we focus on export led economic growth to compensate for the readjustment of housing construction to more sustainable levels,” he said.

Mr Lenihan’s cabinet colleague, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan, said this afternoon that the economic case for a Yes vote was growing due to the backing of the treaty by business organisations such as Chambers Ireland, the Small Firms Association and Ibec.

The Tánaiste and enterprise minister said although there are individual businessmen who are against the treaty, the bulk of Irish business is in favour of a Yes vote in next month’s referendum.

"The Lisbon Reform Treaty is specifically designed to make the EU more efficient and effective and this is why we are hearing such strong support for a Yes from Irish business.”

Labour MEP, Proinsias De Rossa said that the treaty would safeguard and promote public services. “The Treaty makes considerable progress in the long-running campaign to achieve better protections for public services in the context of EU competition law,” said Mr De Rossa.

“Lisbon gives us the legal and political instruments to guarantee that the future of public services is safe, provided national governments support them at home, and help progress the initiatives now possible with this treaty.

"Without Lisbon the labour and trade Union movement will not have these essential tools for the ongoing battle to develop a decent society for our people,” he added.

Separately, the director of the Labour Party’s Lisbon campaign, Joe Costello, claimed this afternoon that many of the posters advocating a No vote in the plebiscite were being published by an organisation called Coir, which shares its offices with a number of pro-life organisations such as Youth Defence.

“Many of these people have been associated with opposition to every development in the European Union and every single social reform in this country. The same people brought us the ‘Hello Divorce: Goodbye Daddy’ poster in 1996, which is typical of the misleading and alarmist tactics they specialise in,” said Mr Costello.