THE ANTI-LISBON Treaty group Cóir has claimed to have had "the best posters of this campaign".
Spokesman Richard Greene said yesterday that posters on the Yes side of the referendum, by contrast, promoted personalities and failed to stimulate debate.
The ubiquitous Cóir posters with their message that Lisbon will "cost you" or that the EU was like three chimpanzees who would not hear, see or speak for the public, were among the more controversial features of the referendum campaign.
Speaking at a press conference in Dublin, Mr Greene said: "Young people, idealistic, who love their country, designed the best posters of this campaign. One cannot say that about Fianna Fáil's posters, one cannot say that about Fine Gael's posters which mostly promoted personalities, they didn't actually stimulate any debate."
He said it was the same with posters from other pro-Lisbon groups: "They were innocuous statements like 'Europe is good for us, let's be at the heart of it' whereas the Cóir posters really stimulated debate and got people thinking: what does this treaty mean for Ireland, what does it mean for our future?"
Asked about Cóir's origins, he said it was founded after the vote against the Nice Treaty was reversed in a second referendum.
"We came together in 2003 specifically to defend Ireland's sovereignty, which we believe is under attack from Europe. We have about 2,000 volunteers now."