SITTING FIANNA Fáil Dublin MEP Eoin Ryan last night launched a strong attack on Sinn Féin’s attitude towards the European Union when he launched his campaign for the European Parliament elections in June, along with his running mate, Lord Mayor of Dublin Eibhlin Byrne.
“Don’t listen to the naysayers like Sinn Féin; if they had their way Ireland would not be in the EU, would not be in the internal market and would not be a member of the euro zone,” he told party supporters in Dublin.
Sinn Féin, he said, has been “consistently negative towards the EU”, adding that EU institutions such as the European Investment Bank and the European Central Bank were prepared to make resources available to Ireland.
“There is opportunity in Europe. There is support. There are funds. But we need to fight for them.
“I am out in Brussels fighting for Dublin, so I don’t use words lightly when I say that Europe has been good for Ireland, good for Dublin, and will continue to be so.”
Cllr Byrne was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in June last year.
She was co-opted to the city council seat vacated by Cllr Sandra Geraghty in 2002, and was re-elected in the 2004 local elections for the Clontarf ward which includes Fairview, Donnycarney and Marino.
Ireland’s membership of the EU “is one of the primary reasons why 1,000 foreign companies have located in our country, many of them in the Dublin region”, said Ms Byrne, who will target votes on the north side of the Liffey.
“I have spent many years working in the voluntary and social services sector.
“Never in the history of the EU has it been so critical that our people’s voices are heard in Europe.”
She added that she wanted to be “the people’s voice” in a Europe “which currently can appear detached from the daily lives of ordinary people”.