Ibec insists Yes vote will secure future:THE BUSINESS lobby group Ibec insisted a Yes vote for the fiscal treaty will "secure Ireland's future" when unveiling the organisation's referendum poster in Dublin city centre yesterday.
Ibec director general Danny McCoy said he believed a No vote would increase the amount of time Ireland would spend in austerity and would hamper recovery, while a Yes vote would give confidence and certainty.
“What Ireland needs now is growth,” he said. Mr McCoy said people making decisions about investment in Ireland were “a little bit bemused, I suppose, that we would be risking our access to markets by even contemplating a No vote”.
He said there was no need for scaremongering, but he believed a Yes vote would send a very positive signal to potential investors.
The Ibec posters carry the slogan: “Secure Ireland’s Future”. The organisation intends erecting 5,000 posters across the country.
Ibec president Julie O’Neill said a Yes vote would drive growth and recovery in the economy, while a No vote would increase uncertainty and increase the cost of servicing the State’s debt.
“Driving Ireland’s recovery is very important, and Europe is a very important part of that,” Ms O’Neill said.
She said sensible and robust rules to avoid a future debt crisis were in the interest of both Ireland and Europe. “If Ireland and Irish business is to prosper and create jobs and generate growth we need to draw a line under the European debt crisis.”
Mr McCoy and Ms O’Neill were joined at the launch by Anne Hegarty, chief executive of recruitment firm CPL; Mary McKenna, managing director of Tour America; Regina Moran, chief executive of Fujitsu Ireland; and Sally Storey, general manager of GlaxoSmithKline Ireland.
Commission uses Facebook
THE REFERENDUM Commission is using Facebook to encourage people to check the voting register and make sure they are eligible to participate in the fiscal treaty referendum on May 31st.
An advertising campaign on Facebook over the next fortnight will direct people to an app which aims to help them check the register. Referendum Commission chairman Mr Justice Kevin Feeney said he hoped younger people who did not always get information from “traditional media” would find it useful.
The Referendum Commission’s booklet will start arriving in homes from May 8th and is expected to be distributed around the State within 10 days. The 24-page booklet – with 12 pages in English and 12 in Irish – will contain a fairly short summary of what the treaty is about.
The Government is in the process of distributing a 40-page booklet containing the text of the fiscal treaty referendum and an explanatory section. Distribution started in Munster last Thursday and Friday. An additional pamphlet will be distributed closer to polling day, May 31st.
Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fail, who are advocating a Yes vote, will distribute separate leaflets and canvass cards.
Sinn Féin, which is calling for a No vote, will distribute around one million bilingual leaflets.
Browne to host key TV treaty debate
TV3 presenter Vincent Browne will host The Europe Debate tonight at 9pm.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams have declined invitations and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore is said to be unavailable at this point.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Fine Gael’s director of elections, Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney, will represent the Yes side, while the No side will be represented by Sinn Féins Mary Lou McDonald and Socialist TD Joe Higgins.
Meanwhile, Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan yesterday made an order appointing May 31st as the polling day for the referendum on the Fiscal Treaty.
Persons who are not registered to vote still have time to apply. Forms can be downloaded from www.checktheregister.ieor local councils. The final date for completed application forms is Monday, May 14th.
Applications for postal votes must be lodged by tomorrow.