THERE HAD been a positive side to the teachers’ demonstration in Dublin last Saturday, Seanad leader Donie Cassidy said.

He believed it had been the best trading day in the city this year. The teachers had made their contribution in more ways than coming to make their views known in the capital. Mr Cassidy, who was responding to calls for a debate on education cutbacks, said the huge turnout was to be commended.

Paschal Donohoe (FG) asked if the Government was making the same mistakes again in relation to the Lisbon Treaty.

Mr Donohoe, who chaired the Oireachtas sub-committee on this country’s future in the EU, said: “We find ourselves in a situation where every government in the European Union appears to know what the Irish Government is looking for, but Fine Gael, the other Opposition parties and the Irish people do not. The Oireachtas does not know whether the Government is supporting another referendum, under what conditions and when this could take place.

“Two things could explain this. First, the Government has a plan but they will not tell the Irish people what it is. If this is the case I have to strongly challenge it. This lack of leadership, explanation and conviction is exactly what caused the first campaign to fall.

“The other explanation, which is more worrying, is that the Government do not know what they want and that they are not providing the leadership that Europe needs. This would be a mistake of historic proportions,” he said.

The outcome to this week’s EU summit in relation to the Irish position on the Lisbon Treaty remained uncertain, Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche said. “Some partners have made clear to us that they have serious concerns. They pointed out that all of the member states made concessions so that we could reach agreement on the treaty,” the Minister said.

“The Government was seeking legally robust guarantees in the areas of sovereignty, on taxation, social and ethical issues and defence and on the issue of a commissioner per member state. The right of every member state to appoint a commissioner permanently was a key issue for us. Following the very intensive round of discussions we believed that this was an area where agreement could be achieved.

“However, there were still member states that did not share our view, so the work of converting them would continue right up to next Friday.”