WITH just one week left
before Inishowen goes to the polls with the rest of
the country to vote on the Lisbon Treaty next
Thursday, June 12, the 'Yes' and 'No' campaigns are
stepping up a gear. Here's the latest from the
campaign trail locally...
THE North's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness
joined his party colleagues in Donegal Sinn Féin on
the Lisbon Treaty campaign trail over the June Bank
Holiday. He appealed to the people of Donegal to
vote 'No' on June 12 and to send the Government back
to secure a better deal for Ireland, Europe and the
wider world. He also asked the people of Donegal to
be mindful of their fellow Irish citizens in the six
counties and citizens throughout Europe who have
been denied their right to vote on the profoundly
important implications of the Lisbon Treaty
including in France and Holland where they rejected
the European Constitution in 2005 which is almost
identical to the Lisbon Treaty.
FIANNA Fáil Senator Brian O Domhnaill has said that
Sinn Féin claims that the Lisbon Treaty is bad for
business is completely at odds with the views of the
business community in Ireland. Senator O’Domhnaill
said: “To date, IBEC, the Small Firms Association,
the American Chamber in Ireland and Chambers of
Commerce throughout the country have all called for
a 'Yes' vote. They represent thousands of companies
which employ hundreds of thousands of people. We
also saw a 3 to 1 vote in favour of the Treaty from
the Congress of Trade Unions last week. They all
have the objective of economic success and job
creation at heart and they would never take a stance
that would endanger their success.”
DONEGAL Senator Pearse Doherty has claimed that the
Taoiseach Brian Cowen's assurances to the Irish
Farmers' Association (IFA) are "not work the paper
they're written on".
"Assurances from Brian Cowen on the use of Ireland's
veto on international trade agreements not in
Ireland's interests, are simply not worth the paper
they are written on. The Irish government cannot
commit to using a veto if, in fact, that veto does
not exist.
"Sinn Féin stands over its argument that the Lisbon
Treaty removes Ireland's ability to veto the kind of
international trade agreement currently being
negotiated by Peter Mandelson at the WTO. Article
188 removes the general veto on services such as
health, education and social services," he said.
NORTH West MEP Marian Harkin has welcomed the
decision by the Government to invoke the veto in
relation to an unsatisfactory WTO deal for the
agriculture sector. “I welcome the Government’s
decision as it is a necessary step towards
protecting the country’s vital agriculture and food
sector and securing the 'Yes' vote which will
strengthen Ireland’s hand in pressing for a
satisfactory WTO outcome”, she said. And she praised
the IFA for its campaign to highlight the threat
posed by the Mandelson WTO negotiation tactics. “The
IFA will now be doing a good job for Irish
agriculture and for the country by focussing its
energies and resources to secure that 'Yes' vote
which is important to the future welfare of its own
members." |
