Roche denies smear tactics against No campaign

The Minister of State for Europe, Mr Dick Roche, has denied claims by Mr Justin Barrett that Fianna Fáil has been involved in a "smear campaign" against the No to Nice group.

Welcoming yesterday's Irish Times report revealing Mr Barrett's attendance at a meeting of far-right activists in Germany, Mr Roche said: "This story speaks for itself. It tells the Irish people what's behind the black and the red posters. It's no accident that they [the No to Nice campaign] picked that particular colour scheme.

"Anybody with a sense of history knows what that colour scheme stands for. Mr Barrett said on three separate occasions today . . . that he didn't quite know what he was at. Well, he certainly wasn't at a fancy dress ball on that occasion. Anybody who stood in that hall and had any particular doubts about what these particular forces stands for is either extraordinarily naive or expects the Irish people to swallow the type of stuff that came from him today.

"The reality of it is that this is the day which the No to Nice campaign and what it stands for is finally unmasked."

Mr Roche said that since mid-July he had drawn the Irish people's attention to "precisely what Mr Barrett stood for".

"I drew attention specifically to a press release which he made at that time in which he played to the darker forces in nature. I drew attention in particular to the xenophobia."

Asked was he calling Mr Barrett a Nazi, he replied: "I'm not calling Mr Barrett anything. I don't actually believe in labelling anybody anything. It's a matter for yourself what's the appropriate label for Mr Barrett."

Mr Roche also queried how the No to Nice campaign had raised its funding. "There is something quite bizarre about a very small organisation that can fund one of the most expensively-driven campaigns in this country. I don't know where the source of funds comes from. I simply don't believe that they are all collected in pounds and pence or euros and cents from donations that came from one or two ads in local papers."

Responding to Mr Barrett's criticism of Fianna Fáil's alignment with a right-wing Italian party in the European Parliament, Mr Roche replied: "Mr Barrett will say anything to wriggle off the hook."