Ireland must stay fully engaged with Europe
Issued : Monday 31 August, 2009
Statement by Joe Costello TD
Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with responsibility for Trade and Development
Today the Labour Party is formally launching its campaign for a ‘Yes’ vote in the forthcoming Referendum on the Lisbon Treaty on the 2nd October. The theme of our campaign is “Work with Europe”.
On the 17th July we publicly stated our intent to support the Lisbon Treaty and outlined the type of preparatory work we would carry out over the summer so as to be ready to mount a strong campaign throughout the month of September.
We have carried out that work. Our plans are now in place. Today we are the first political party campaigning for a ‘Yes’ vote to launch its campaign.
The Labour Party is absolutely committed to the European project and its principles, that is, the partnership approach of 27 sovereign countries working together as equals irrespective of size or strength towards common goals of peace and prosperity.
These are the principles that James Connolly and James Larkin, founding fathers of the Labour Party espoused. They believed that the progressive way forward was to build solidarity and equality between neighbouring countries and between fellow workers in these countries.
These principles haven’t changed since the foundation of the original European Economic Community with the Treaty of Rome in 1957.
The Lisbon Treaty is all about restating these principles and enhancing them. Indeed, the Lisbon Treaty is the Reform Treaty.
It re-asserts the rule of law and human rights as the foundation stone of the EU; it seeks to make more democratic, more accountable and more effective the existing institutions of the EU; it give the elected members of the EU Parliament greater power of decision making and budgetary oversight; it gives the elected members of National Parliaments a new role in policy making and policy monitoring at EU level; it provides the commitment and the mechanism for the EU to operate effectively at international level so as to deal with global problems such as climate change, world poverty and major conflicts.
Most importantly from a Labour Party point of view the Lisbon Treaty commits the EU to promote “a social market economy aiming at full employment and social progress”.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights copper fastens this commitment with its corpus of citizens rights, particularly, the rights of workers.
These are the reasons why the Labour Party has given its full support to the Lisbon Treaty from the very beginning and will campaign strongly for a ‘Yes’ vote in the forthcoming Referendum to ratify it.
The Labour Party Campaign:
It has long been the view of the Labour Party that the standard, party political, easy-going attitude to the conduct of a Referendum is in urgent need of overhaul.
The best way to conduct an effective Referendum we believe is to treat it as an election.
The key to a good election campaign is to mobilise the party members and supporters, and get them knocking on doors, meeting people face to face and asking them directly for their vote. That is what the Labour Party will do for the month of September in every town, city and county in Ireland.
The campaign will be co-ordinated regionally by our three MEPS, Nessa Childers, Alan Kelly and Proinsias DeRossa in Leinster, Munster and Dublin, and our candidate for the North-West, Susan O’Keeffe, in Connaught. Separate launches of the regional campaigns will take place during this week and next week in Sligo, Limerick, Wicklow and Dublin.
The MEPs are holding a series of town hall meetings with TDs and Senators in their constituencies throughout the month of September and will be contacting local media about these.
TDs, Senators and Councillors will distribute leaflets and will canvass door to door with generic and personalised literature.
At constituency and local level the Labour Party will co-operate with other parties and organisations campaigning for a ‘Yes’ vote to ensure that maximum canvassing of the electorate takes place.
Labour Women, Labour Youth, Labour Lawyers and LGBT sections of the Labour Party will be conducting their own campaigns and targeting the relevant sections of the community.
Labour Women in particular are playing a significant role in the campaign. They will be holding their own press launch and their first public meeting with Margot Wallstrom, the Vice-Chairperson of the Commission as their guest next week.
We are also conducting an online campaign. We have established a stand-alone website entitled: Labour for Europe.ie
An online team of volunteers is in place to maintain the website and to provide accurate information for the public on the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty. They will answer questions, monitor political sites, participate in social networking sites and conduct blogging.
There will be live video streaming of our town hall meetings and other regional events and we will post regular video clips on YouTube.
We expect to spend in the region of €100,000 on leaflets, posters and billboards with a similar sum being provided through our three MEPs.
This is despite our heavy expenditure in on the Local, European and two by-elections in June and a likely general election within the next 12 months. It is an indication of the importance which we attach to having the Lisbon Treaty ratified.
In conclusion, we are determined to conduct a vigorous and innovative campaign between now and the 2nd October.
We will treat the campaign as an election campaign; we will canvass our constituents for a ‘Yes’ vote as though we were seeking their vote for the election of our candidates in a local, Dáil or European election.
We are determined to play our part in ensuring that Ireland stays fully engaged with Europe and that we continue to work with our EU colleagues for the benefit of our country and our people.
