Campaigners for a Yes vote in the forthcoming Lisbon treaty referendum got on their bikes today to take their message across Ireland.
Activists from Ireland were joined by pro Lisbon supporters from Spain, France, the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany as they began a cycle tour of the country in Dublin.
The seven day trip will stop in Carlow, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Athlone as participants urge people to back the controversial EU reforms at the second time of asking in October.
Some 53.4 per cent of voters rejected the treaty in the first referendum in June last year.
As cyclists started their journey at St Stephen’s Green this morning, senior government figures were reiterating their support for a Yes vote at the launch of Fianna Fail youth wing’s pro-Lisbon campaign.
Commenting at the Ogra Fianna Fáil event in Cork, Minister for Foreign Affairs and director of the party’s Yes campaign Micheál Martin said the treaty would be of great benefit to the young people of Ireland.
“There can be little doubt that the Lisbon Treaty will be of great benefit to the young people of Ireland,” he said.
“Europe has already provided many opportunities for Ireland’s young. It has provided educational opportunities, employment opportunities and investment opportunities. It has shown our young people that there is literally a continent’s worth of possibilities open to them.
“Lisbon will bring all this closer to Ireland and to our young people. It will also deliver some tangible new opportunities such as the new European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps, the clear statement to include young people in the democratic life of Europe as well as a fairness and openness in sporting competitions and cooperation between bodies responsible for sports.
“Our young people are the future of this country and that future will be brighter if we pass the Lisbon Treaty. For that reason I join Ogra in encouraging the young people of Ireland to vote Yes on October 2nd.”
Other senior party figures attending the launch were Minister for State Dara Calleary and Brian Crowley MEP.
Sinn Fein and the Socialist party are among the groups involved in the No campaign opposed to Lisbon, claiming the treaty will undermine workers’ rights and affect Irish policy on military neutrality and other key issues.
PA