EU treaty opponents launch campaign in Ireland

Opponents of the stalled Lisbon treaty have formally launched their campaign in Ireland where voters will vote on the controversial document on 2 October.

Newly-elected Irish MEP Joe Higgins, one of the leaders of the so-called "Vote No to Lisbon" initiative, said the treaty offers "no solution to the economic crisis."

The campaign, which used to be called the "Campaign Against the EU Constitution," was opened in Dublin in the run up to the second referendum.

Speaking at the press conference Higgins urged Irish voters to reject the treaty based on its content, rather than a desire to "kick the government out of office."

Higgins said that it was false "through and through" to portray the treaty as a solution to the economic crisis, saying, "Lisbon is a treaty for decades, not for one or two years and therefore it shapes the Europe we will have to live in."

Higgins said he was also "very concerned" about how the debate would be conducted in the media.

He said guidelines issued to broadcasters by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) indicating they did not have to allocate 50:50 airtime to the Yes and No sides were "extremely sinister".

Speaking at the same event, Brid Smith, a local councillor in Ireland, said the 'guarantees' obtained by the Irish government at a recent EU summit did not change the treaty by "one iota".

She said, "We believe that Irish voters are being threatened, cajoled and lied to."

An Irish Times leader article,meanwhile, says that "the battle lines are drawn" with both sides now having officially launched their campaigns.

It notes that "In September, the battle proper will start" and that according to the Referendum Commission "91 per cent are extremely or quite likely" to vote.

Elsewhere, Irish foreign affairs minister Micheal Martin has spelled out what he says are the likely consequences of a 'No' vote in October.

Martin said that "it would, in my view, be wrong to argue that our relationship with our EU partners would be unaffected by a second rejection of the Lisbon treaty.

"A second 'No' vote would be deeply damaging to our standing within the EU".

As well as Ireland, three other countries (Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic) still have to formally ratify the treaty. If approved, it will will come into effect on 1 January, 2010.

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