MEPs to investigate funding for Irish anti-Lisbon group

MEPs are to look into reports that Libertas, the group which successfully campaigned for a no vote in the Irish referendum, received US funding for its campaign.

During a plenary session in Brussels this week, MEPs will investigate Irish press reports that say Declan Ganley, the multi-millionaire businessman behind Libertas, has significant business interests in America which could have been a factor in the group’s opposition to the treaty.

Following recent media reports, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, joint leader of the Greens/EFA group in parliament, issued a statement which said, “We are awaiting confirmation of reports in the media regarding funding of Libertas’ campaign for a no vote to the Lisbon treaty in Ireland.

“If proved true, this would clearly show that there are forces in the United States willing to pay people to destabilise a strong and autonomous Europe.

“If this can happen for the treaty vote, it raises grave concerns for interference in next year’s European elections. The Greens intend to urgently raise this issue during this week’s plenary session.”

In an 18 September article, the Irish Examiner said that Libertas founder and anti-Lisbon campaigner Declan Ganley had contracts worth over €200m with the US military, which the paper suggested was opposed to the strengthened EU military capability foreseen under Lisbon.
 
No-one from Libertas, based in Ireland, was available for comment but, in the past, Ganley has insisted that his US interests were not a factor in his opposition to the treaty.

According to press reports, he has also denied that his company, Rivada Networks, is a source of funding for Libertas.

In a recent appearance in parliament with Eurosceptic MEPs, Ganley denied he was anti-European but said he believes the treaty would lead to a less democratic and less transparent EU.

Libertas was the main group campaigning against the treaty ahead of the Irish referendum last June, in which almost 54 per cent of voters rejected the document.

A recent poll carried out by the Irish government found that the majority of those who voted no did so because they didn’t understand the text.

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