Irish watchdog to probe financing of Lisbon 'No' campaign

The way the 'No' campaign in the Irish referendum on the Lisbon treaty was financed is to be referred to the country’s financial ‘watchdog', it has emerged.

It follows press reports regarding the funding of Libertas, the group which spearheaded the successful No campaign last June.

There has been widespread speculation over alleged US funding links to Declan Ganley, the chairman of  Libertas, stemming from Irish media reports that Ganley's American company, Rivada Networks, has contracts worth €200m to provide telecommunications equipment to the Pentagon and the National Guard.

A meeting of parliament’s political group leaders on Thursday decided to refer the whole matter to the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) in Ireland.

SIPO is the statutory body in Ireland which regulates all expenditure in the country’s elections and referendums.

Irish legislation prohibits funding from 'outside' the country being used in domestic election campaigns.

Following the group leader’s meeting, parliament issued a statement, which said that MEPs had taken “note of recent statements by the Irish and French ministers for European affairs, as well as the European commission, stressing the importance of full transparency in the funding of the campaign.”

It said it was decided that all political group leaders should be given “comprehensive information” about the issue by parliament's administration and that relevant information on the case should be communicated to SIPO “and more widely, as appropriate.”

The statement said that “SIPO enjoyed real investigative powers and that any proven misuse of funds, either in the way they were raised or spent, could lead to sanctions, including of a criminal nature."

Leaders of all the main groups, it said, had agreed to “regularly and closely monitor the situation and to return to the issue, in any event, in the light of any conclusion by SIPO or other Irish authorities.”

A parliamentary source said, “The leaders had an extensive discussion on the issue of transparency in the financing of the Irish referendum campaign.

"The general feeling at the meeting was that there are the questions that need answering and, at this stage, SIPO is best placed to find answers to these questions.”

Writing in the latest issue of Parliament magazine, Ganley sets out his case, saying,” In case anyone is unsure, the Irish people, who in my country are sovereign, have made their decision and the decision is no.

“If Brussels is to hold on to any pretence of holding democracy among its most cherished principles, it must accept the Irish people’s decision as final".

“The problem with this approach is that Brussels is very rapidly squandering the remaining trust that Europe’s citizens have in it. Why? because Brussels doesn’t trust those same citizens to make their own choices, democratically, on the major questions facing Europe.”

He goes on, “I’ve heard it said that Brussels has no mood or will to go back to the drawing board and structure a new approach. For those harbouring any such sentiment, it’s time to move on because as public servants, the institutions of Brussels have no choice but to respect the democratic will.”

The multi-millionaire businessman has strenuously denied that his company, Rivada Networks, is a source of funding for Libertas.

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