The Government today warned of the adverse consequences of a second No vote in the forthcoming referendum on the Treaty of Nice.
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The Minster for Foreign Affairs, Mr Brian Cowen, said there would be "real political consequences" for Ireland if the Nice Treaty was rejected a second time.
Joining Mr Cowen at the launch of the Government’s White Paper on the Nice Treaty, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr McDowell said: "I have no doubt that a second rejection of the Nice Treaty could have devastating effects on out prosperity and on our future as a location for enterprise and investment".
He added that contrary to the message used by No campaigners in the last referendum, Ireland’s self interest in terms of "money, power and influence" would be gravely threatened by a rejection of the Nice Treaty.
Mr Cowen said the Government had taken too much for granted in the last referendum and that communication had not been what it should have been. "We have heard this message loud and clear," he said.
He also criticised the No campaign for using "scaremongering tactics" which he said had no place in the ebb and flow of informed debate. His colleague, Mr McDowell, rejected that his own comments were scaremongering. "It is not scaremongering. It is the truth," he said.
Green Party TD and No campaigner, Mr John Gormley, speaking on RTÉ Radiosaid that he was not aware of any scare tactics from the No side. "As I attended the press conference (the launch of the White Paper) all I heard was this sort of scaremongering and the fact is that this is exactly the same treaty that we're voting on. Not one iota has been changed.
"We want to talk about the substance of this treaty, we do not want to engage in scaremongering," he said.
Mr Gormley believes that if Ireland votes No then a "better and more democratic treaty" can be negotiated.