Parliament to probe Irish no campaign funding

Parliament president Hans-Gert Pöttering has been asked to launch an inquiry into concerns over the funding of the no campaign in Ireland on the Lisbon treaty referendum.

It follows recent press reports of a possible link between the financers of the campaign and the US military.

Media reports claim that Rivada, a company run by multi-millionaire Irish businessman Declan Ganley, the man who spearheaded the no campaign, which resulted in a rejection of the treaty, has contracts with the US military worth more than €200m.

Speaking in parliament on Monday, Pöttering said, "I have been following this whole matter very attentively for some time. We do indeed need absolute transparency on this because this is exactly what those who are attacking us demand. However, they must of course comply with these standards themselves, that is, they must provide total transparency on what funds this organisation.
 
“We have learned from the Irish media - and I am quoting what we read in Ireland during the past week - that in the past Mr Ganley claimed that the donations come from ordinary citizens, and that they are small donations.

“According to the reports, he now has admitted that he himself has donated €200,000 of his personal assets to his organisation, and it has also been confirmed in the meantime that Mr Ganley has signed contracts with the Pentagon over the execution of military orders amounting to about 200 million - I believe - dollars. Other estimates are much higher.”

“We must continue to follow this affair very closely. The facts must be put on the table. We cannot allow Europe to be harmed by people who demand transparency but do not provide it themselves.
 
I would like to emphasise my high regard for the Irish Minister of European Affairs, Dick Roche, who has made it his personal cause to shed light on this issue and I explicitly support him in his uncompromising approach.  We stand on the side of those who strive for absolute transparency in all of these questions in order to keep Europe from suffering harm.”

Raising a point of order at the start of the plenary, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, joint leader of the Greens in parliament, said: "Last weekend, the Irish press revealed that there possibly exists a link between the financers of the no-campaign in Ireland and the Pentagon as well as the CIA.”

“This was a very interesting story and the explanation given was that Europe should not become too strong. I would ask the President to please clarify this matter and suggest that we also ask the Council as well as the Commission to inform us next time, because if this story turns out to be true it would be an interesting fact indeed, confirming what lies behind the €1.2 million which was used to finance the no-campaign in Ireland.”

“I therefore would like to ask the president to please look into the matter so that we receive information and achieve transparency."

An official in Pöttering's office told this website that the presidentwill now refer the matter to the conference of presidents, or leaders of the political groups, "at the earliest opportunity".

It is possible that a committee of inquiry will then be set up to formally investigate the allegations, he said.

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