SF repeating Treaty claims - Gilmore

The Labour Party leader has accused Sinn Féin of repeating arguments made in opposition to the Nice Treaty in their campaign …

The Labour Party leader has accused Sinn Féin of repeating arguments made in opposition to the Nice Treaty in their campaign against the Lisbon Treaty.

Eamon Gilmore, who was speaking during canvassing at the Maritime Festival in Dublin today, said Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has been "kept under wraps" for his party's campaign against the Lisbon Treaty.

Mr Gilmore said many of the arguments being put forward by Mr Adams's colleagues in the Dáil were essentially the same as those he made against Nice.

"One of the most bizarre claims made by Mr Adams was that the Nice Treaty would threaten North-South cooperation. The welcome reality, as we now is that North-South cooperation has never been better and the Nice Treaty has had no impact on this at all", Mr Gilmore said. 

Mr Gilmore said in May 2001, Mr Adams "claimed that the Nice Treaty would 'undermine Irish sovereignty, relegate the country to the second division of a two tier Europe and compromise the State's neutrality through a European army'.

"In October 2002, Mr Adams claimed that the Nice Treaty would ' move decision making even farther away from the local communities we live in, and from the government's we democratically elect'.

"The claims Mr Adams made against Nice have proven to be totally unfounded and those they are making in this campaign will be prove to equally groundless", Mr Gilmore added.