Where are the promised Lisbon jobs Now?

IBEC posters promising jobs during second Lisbon Treaty Referendum Campaign

Do you remember seeing all these posters?  'Yes for Jobs', 'Yes for Jobs and Investment', 'Yes to Recovery' as well as a whole host of other literature bearing a similar message.  Remember all those politicians promising the moon and the stars (and particularly the jobs) in order to con people into voting for a treaty that they had already democratically rejected?

Well that was almost 12 months, so where exactly are all these jobs we were promised if the Lisbon Treaty was ratified?  Recently released figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that,  contrary to those  promises of economic recovery and job creation,  unemployment levels in this state are at its highest in more than 16 years.  The numbers on the live register in July reached more than 466,000, an increase of 14,000 on June of this year and more than 34,000 higher than July of 2009.

The state wide figures are replicated here in the north west also.  There were 22,832 people on the Live Register in Donegal at the end of July, up 1,981 on the same period last year, a rise of 9.5%.  However, the jobless figure for Ballyshannon rose by a massive 15%, with Dungloe increasing by 13% and Letterkenny by 12%.  And in the latest blow to Donegal's unemployment problems, it was announced last week that the Keith Prowse call centre in Lisfannon, Buncrana, Co Donegal is set to close with the loss of up to 100 jobs.

In County Sligo, the unemployed numbers have risen by 166 from June and almost 500 from July 2009 to now stand at 5932.   In Leitrim those signing on has increased by 163 to total 3900, while County Roscommon's total is now 4,306 following yet another increase of 216 from last month and up 425 on July of last year.  County Mayo also seen an increase in those signing on with an extra 450 people joining the live register in July bringing the total to 13,965, and increase of more than 1200 on this time last year.

Despite the continued job losses and the fact that Fianna Fáil led administrations have succeeded in increasing unemployment levels from just 4.3% in July 2005 to the current level of 13.7% and rising in July 2010, Fianna Fáil Ministers have defended and attempted to justify the rising unemployment figures and their abject failure to save and create jobs.

According to Batt O'Keefe, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Fianna Fáil policies "are helping Ireland to emerge from recession and to avoid another period of protracted recession."

"We will persist with our policies" he said "to help unemployed workers to get back into the labour force and create conditions conducive to job creation".

Billboard in Donegal (December 2009)

Reacting to the latest unemployment figures and Fianna Fáil's response to them, éirígi activist Gerry Casey accused the government of "gross incompetence and mismanagement  of the economy".  He also claimed that the true figures for people losing their jobs is far higher than the figures suggest.

Casey said:  "At the time of the second Lisbon Treaty referendum campaign last year, Fianna Fáil backed up by the supposed opposition parties, Labour and Fine Gael as well as the representatives of big business such as IBEC and the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland, promised us all that a vote for the Lisbon Treaty would secure jobs for Ireland.  As éirígí pointed out during the campaign, that was a blatant lie.  The continued loss of jobs around the state and the latest unemployment figures which now stands at a 16 year high of 466,000, exposes that lie clearly for all to see."

He added:  "However bad people may think those figures are, the reality is that the numbers losing their jobs is actually far higher.  What the figures don't show are those who are unemployed and have been forced to emigrate once more, egged on by a government happy to push them onto a boat or plane and get them off the live register.  Shamefully, forced emigration, a thing the Irish people thought was a thing of the past, has re-emerged with a vengeance as a direct result of this governments policies.  The statistics also hide those who are now on state schemes or remained in education due to a lack of employment."

"Fianna Fáil and the Greens have failed  miserably in tacking the jobs crisis and creating sustainable employment.  Their policy in terms of reducing the numbers of unemployed has been to cynically squeeze our young people who find themselves out of work to such a degree that they are forced to emigrate."

"On top of losing their jobs, young people had their dole reduced to €100 a week and €150 a week for under 21's and 22-24 year olds respectively, making it virtually impossible for them to survive on the dole in their own country.  Even at that, people signing on to receive this pittance are been forced to wait for as long as 16 weeks before being paid.  These measures were deliberately introduced by a callous government in order to make life unbearable for young unemployed people in the hope they would choose the option of emigration thus helping to hide the true extent of unemployment.”

FIanna Fáil, Fine Gael & Labour Unite in False Jobs Promises during Lisbon Treaty Referendum Campaign

"This administration, aided by the 'opposition' and big business, lied to the Irish people when they told us that ratifying the Lisbon Treaty would mean job creation and an end to the recession.  The 'opposition' who would offer themselves as an alternative deliberately lied to the Irish people also.  These parties, along with the neo-liberal capitalist system they strive to maintain, all share responsibility for the current economic crisis and the savage attacks being waged against working people and those less well off in society." 

Casey concluded:  "The solution to our social and economic problems is not replacing Tweedledum (Fianna Fáil/Greens) with Tweedledee (Fine Gael/Labour).  The solution lies in dismantling their rotten corrupt  capitalist system that continues to heap misery and hardship on working class communities and to replace it with an alternative Ireland based on public ownership and a decent standard of living and working conditions for all."

VOTE NO TO LISBON 2

On October 2nd éirígí are urging people to once again vote NO to the Lisbon Treaty. Despite democratically rejecting the Treaty last year, we are now being forced to vote again on this exact same Treaty.

The French and Dutch public also democratically rejected this Treaty in 2005, then titled the European Constitution, when it was put to them in referenda. Instead of accepting the democratic decision in those countries, the EU simply changed the name of the Treaty and had the French and Dutch government's ratify it without putting it back to the people to avoid it being defeated again.

That this Treaty has not been scrapped despite being rejected by the people of three different European states, only serves to confirm the undemocratic nature of the Treaty and the contempt with which the EU and our so-called government have for democracy itself.

Despite the pretence of the political establishment, this is exactly the same Treaty we rejected last year. Not a single line, word or comma has been changed. Their claims to have secured "legal guarantees" that address the concerns that the public has over the Treaty are disingenuous and a deliberate effort to deceive the public.

Their guarantees have no legal basis, are not included in the Treaty and have not been added as protocols to the Treaty. They are empty political promises by politicians and bureaucrats at Irish and European level who have shown consistently that they cannot be trusted. The actual content of the Treaty, which is what we are voting on, overrides any "guarantees" or pre-referenda promises that may be given in order to secure your vote.


The Treaty also intensifies the push towards a more heavily armed and militarised Europe, drawing this state closer to a nuclear armed NATO. It creates a mutual defence pact, obliging ALL states in the union to come to the assistance of another EU state where an armed attack takes place on its territory. According to the Dublin Government's own White paper on Foreign Policy (1996) "provisions committing the parties to collective action in the event of armed attack against one or more of them .... would not be compatible with an intention to remain neutral."

It also obliges all states to increase their military spending. This at a time when Fianna Fáil and the Greens are imposing savage cutbacks in essential health and education services properly. Clearly this administration views the profits of the European arms industry as a higher priority than the education and health of the people of this state.

The reality is that this administration has already seriously eroded this states supposed neutral status. They joined NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP) without holding the referendum they promised. They have assisted the US and British war effort in Afghanistan and Iraq. They have turned Shannon airport into a virtual US military base, providing refuelling and rest and recreation facilities for US aircraft and troops on their way to and from slaughtering civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq.


The announcement in recent weeks by Ryanair, by Intel Ireland and by the Business group IBEC, that they are to spend hundreds of thousands of Euro campaigning for a yes vote clearly shows who will benefit from the Lisbon Treaty. Lisbon is a charter for big business. For workers it is an extremely bad deal. If Lisbon is ratified it will see a continuation of the neo-liberal economic madness that led to the current recession, with its mass unemployment and cutbacks in essential public services, that we are currently in. The one thing that Lisbon will provide for workers and their families is increased misery and hardship and yet further attacks on their working conditions and living standards.

While that may be the political and business establishment’s vision for Europe, it is not éirígí’s. All the reasons why we opposed this Treaty last year remain. A yes vote will increase the militarisation of Europe and see the further erosion of workers’ rights, sovereignty and democracy. On that basis we are campaigning and asking people once again to vote NO for a better Europe, not a Europe based on greed over need and the exploitation of its 500 million workers.

Lisbon 2 Official Campaign Launch

The official launch of éirígí’s No to Lisbon 2 campaign took place yesterday (Saturday) in Dublin’s Belvedere Hotel. Close to forty éirígí activists were on hand for the event which began with a number of presentations relating the Lisbon Treaty itself and the éirígí campaign calling for a NO vote in the October 2nd referendum.

Party Chair Brian Leeson, General Secretary Breandán Mac Cionnaith, spokesperson Daithí Mac An Mhaistír, Belfast Ciorcal Chair Nuala McGurk and Councillor Louise Minihan all took part in a panel based question and answer session which followed the presentations.

éirígí’s main campaign leaflet entitled ‘500,000 UNEMPLOYED – EUROPE ISN’T WORKING’ was also revealed at the launch. 100,000 of these leaflets are to be distributed across the country during the course of the campaign. These leaflets are in addition to the 3,000 No to Lisbon posters calling for a No vote that éirígí has produced.

Following the launch thousands of leaflets were distributed to pedestrians across the city centre. Speaking after the launch éirígí’s Lisbon spokesperson Daithí Mac An Mhaistír said: “éirígí played a major role in the first Lisbon referendum, distributing tens of thousands of leaflets and erecting hundreds of posters and banners. Given the growth that éirígí has experienced in the intervening period our Lisbon 2 campaign will be considerably bigger. We will bring the message that the EU isn’t working to the doorsteps of tens of thousands of homes across the state.

“The establishment political parties, IBEC and big business – the very people who have led this country into economic ruin – are asking people to vote yes. éirígí is proposing a radical socialist alternative to the failed economic policies of the EU and the Twenty-Six County government. By voting NO to the Lisbon Treaty, people can express their support for the building of a different society build upon the principles of economic democracy and genuine equality. Saying No to Lisbon is to stand on the side of democracy and a vision of Europe wherein the people are sovereign.”

NO to Lisbon 2 Poster Campaign launched in Sligo

éirígí Sligeach launched the first phase of its poster campaign against the Lisbon Treaty earlier this week. Posters and banners opposing the Treaty and calling for a NO vote were erected throughout Sligo town and also in Ballisodare and Collooney.

éirígí Sligeach activist Gerry Casey said that this was just the start of what he claims will be an intensive campaign by the party in Sligo and throughout the north-west.

He said: "While this is certain to be a very tough campaign, we in éirígí are more than confident that we can achieve a second NO vote in the upcoming referendum on October 2nd. For our part we will be stepping up our campaign in Sligo and the north-west in general over the coming weekend and in the weeks to come."

He added: "This is the exact same treaty we voted on and rejected last year. Every word, sentence and paragraph included in the Treaty is the very same as last time around."

"The so called guarantees which the political establishment is so intent to promote as being "legally binding" are nothing of the sort. They have no legal standing, are contrary to the actual content of the Treaty in many instances and do not override the content of the Treaty itself. As éirígí have pointed out repeatedly, these are no more than political promises from politicians at both Irish and European level who, on the basis of their records, are totally discredited and are not to be trusted."

"This Treaty, under its previous guise as the EU constitution, has already been rejected by the French and Dutch public. The EU have ignored those democratic decisions. Following our rejection of that re-named constitution, now called the Lisbon Treaty, once again the EU and the Fianna Fáil led administration have ignored that democratic vote also."

"This reveals the fundamentally undemocratic nature at the heart of the EU itself and how they will stop at nothing as they attempt to entrench their neo-liberalism and privatisation agenda, further deepen the democratic deficit of the union and move towards their desired EU super-state."

He concluded: " éirígí oppose this Treaty, as we did last time, as it undermines sovereignty, is fundamentally anti-worker, promotes greed over need and increases the militarization of Europe. We will also continue to challenge and expose the attempts by Fianna Fáil and the so-called "opposition" in Fine Gael and Labour to deliberately mislead and deceive the public with their bogus arguments about so-called legal guarantees that are in fact worthless."

Cruinnithe faoin spéir sa Chlochán Liath faoi Chonradh Liospóin

(English version follows.)

Ag labhairt ag cruinniú eagraithe ag éirígí sa Chlochán Liath ag éileamh ar vóta Níl sa reifreann i mí Dheireadh Fómhair, dúirt eagraí Cheardchumann Neamhspleách na nOibrithe Tommy McKearney nach bhfuil sé de ghustal ag Éirinn ligeant don Eoraip talamh slán a dhéanamh dá comhlíonadh.

“Le ceann de na daonraí agus eacnamaíochtaí is lú san Aontas Eorpach, ní féidir le hÉirinn cáil a fháil ó chomhlíonadh i gcónaí nuair a ordaíonn na stáit mhóra é sin a dhéanamh agus sin an rud a tharlóidh má athraíonn muid an cinneadh tógtha ag ár ndaoine in 2008,” dúirt sé.

Bhí an cruinniú sin ar cheann de sraith chruinnithe iarAifrinn curtha ar siúl lasmuigh de eaglasi chaitliceach an Chlocháin Liath oíche Dé Sathairn agus maidin Dé Domhnaigh [29-30ú Lúnasa]. Labhair urlabhraí éirígí Thír Chonaill Micheál Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig ag na cruinnithe freisin.

“Cuimhnigh,” lean McKearney, “dá mba rud é gur athraíodh an conradh seo go mór ó dhiúltaigh muid é in 2008, bheadh ar phobail an Aontais Eorpaigh vóta a chaitheamh air arís. Tá muid, mar sin, ag vótáil ar an chonradh céanna. Seo conradh a dhéanann leatrom ar oibrithe agus i bhfábhar na mbaincéirí, amhantraithe agus gnóthaí móra trí thacú le hiomaíocht roimh shaothar.

“Cén fáth, an dóigh leat, go bhfuil Michael O’Leary ag infheistiú €500,000 san fheachtas Tá?” arsa McKearney.

Dúirt sé go bhfuil páirtithe na bunaíochta atá ag tabhairt comhairle dúinn vótáil Tá ag tabhairt le tuiscint go gcuirfear amach as an Aontas Eorpach muid agus go mbeidh muid brúite amach ón Euro má theipeann orainn sin a dhéanamh.

“Tá sé seo bréagach amach is amach,” arsa é.

“Ní féidir muid a dhíbirt agus muid ag feidhmiú ár gceart daonlathach Níl a rá agus ní chaillfidh muid an Euro trí dhiúltú don chonradh seo.

“Breithnigh gur iad na páirtithe comhrialtais atá ag tabhairt comhairle dúinn ar vótáil, na daoine oll-neamhinniúlacha céanna atá i gceannas ar thubaiste ár ngeilleagair agus atá meáite anois ar reachtaíocht NAMA a thógaint isteach chun na baincéirí agus na hamhantraithe a tharrtháil agus iad tar éis an méad sin a dhéanamh chun muid go léir a scrios.”

Chríochnaigh sé ag rá gur bhain muintir na hÉireann úsáid as a ndea-chiall agus dhiúltaigh siad bulaíocht an uair dheireanach a vótalaíodh ar an chonradh seo agus gur chóir dúinn an rud céanna a dhéanamh i mí Dheireadh Fómhair.

Open Air meetings in Dungloe on Lisbon Treaty

Speaking at a meeting organised by éirígí in Dungloe to call for a No vote in October’s Lisbon referendum, Independent Workers’ Union organiser Tommy McKearney said that Ireland cannot afford to allow the European Union take its compliance for granted.

“With one of the smallest populations and economies in the European Union, Ireland must not earn a reputation for meekly rolling over when ordered to do so by the bigger states and that is what will happen if we change the decision delivered by our people in 2008,” McKearney said.

The meeting was one of a series of after mass meetings held outside Dungloe catholic church on Saturday and Sunday [August 29-30]. Donegal éirígí spokesperson Micheál Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig also addressed the meetings.

“Let us remind ourselves,” McKearney continued, “that if this Treaty had been significantly altered since we rejected it in 2008, the peoples of the EU would have had to vote on it again. We are, therefore, voting on the same treaty. A treaty that by endorsing the right of competition over that of labour, discriminates against workers and in favour of bankers, speculators and big business.

“Why do you think Michael O’Leary is investing €500,000 in the Yes campaign?” McKearney asked.

He said that the establishment parties advising people to vote yes are implying that if they fail to do so, the Twenty-Six Counties will be expelled from the EU and forced out of the Euro.

“That is simply untrue,” he said.

“We cannot be expelled for exercising our democratic right to say No and we shall not lose the Euro for objection to this treaty.

“Don’t lose sight of the fact that the coalition parties now advising us on how to vote are the same grossly incompetent people that have presided over the collapse of our economy and are now hell bent on introducing the NAMA legislation in order to rescue the bankers and speculators who have done so much to ruin us all.”

McKearney concluded by saying that people in the Twenty-Six Counties had used their good sense and refused to be bullied the last time the Treaty was voted on and they should do the same again in October.

éirígí Launches First Wave of No to Lisbon 2

éirígí launched the first wave of the party’s No to Lisbon 2 campaign yesterday (Monday) outside the gates of Leinster House and the EU offices in Dublin city centre.

To remind the Twenty-Six County establishment that they cannot spin their way to a referendum victory and encourage a second defeat of the Lisbon Treaty, éirígí has produced a poster entitled Never Mind the B****cks – It is the Same Treaty.

The poster campaign is themed on the famous Sex Pistols album cover, and hundreds of the posters will be distributed across the Twenty-Six Counties in the lead up to the re-run of the Lisbon Treaty on October 2.

The campaign was launched using a colourful piece of street theatre by two éirígí ‘punks’, while other éirígí activists distributed leaflets to passing members of the public.

éirígí spokesperson Daithí Mac an Mhaistír, who was at the launch, said: “Earlier this year, the Twenty-Six County government issued a series of so-called guarantees drafted by EU hacks, in an attempt to provide some political cover for their desire to re-run the Treaty referendum. These ‘guarantees’ amounted to nothing more than political propaganda on a variety of bogus issues unconnected to the Lisbon Treaty itself. With this fig-leaf of a cover, Brian Cowen announced his decision to reject the democratic verdict of the electorate in the Twenty-Six Counties.

“éirígí has produced this poster to remind people that, despite all the hype and spin surrounding the so-called Lisbon Treaty guarantees, what we are actually being asked to vote on in October is exactly the same treaty as the one that was rejected in June 2008.

“Not a single word, comma or full stop has been changed in the text of the Lisbon Treaty. The Twenty-Six County establishment is blatantly and arrogantly ignoring the democratic wishes of the people by re-running the Lisbon referendum.

“éirígí is confident that, despite all of the scare-mongering by the Pro-Lisbon camp, the electorate will deliver a resounding No once again on October 2.”

Following the poster launch Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey said that the Treaty was a very bad deal for workers within the European Union and needed to be rejected once again.

Casey said: "The Lisbon Treaty is a charter for big business and the multi-national corporations. It is an extremely bad deal for the millions of workers who live within the European Union (EU)."

He added: "The revelation that IBEC North West are now supporting the yes campaign and that the Multi-National firm Intel are also planning to spend hundreds of thousands of Euro on promoting a yes vote confirms that it is big business interests that will benefit from the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty."

"Big business is interested in one thing and one only. Maximising it's profits regardless of how that effects their workers or wider society. Workers are viewed as commodities to be used and discarded at the whim of these large companies. What is in their interest, as Lisbon so obviously is, is not in the interests of workers and their families and wider society in general."

He concluded: "A vote for Lisbon will see the continuation of the neo-liberal and privatisation policies that created the economic recession which has resulted in mass unemployment and widespread cutbacks in pay and essential public services . Contrary to what IBEC and Intel are suggesting, the way out of this crisis and the cure for it is not an even stronger dose of the greed before need policies that got us into this mess in the first place. The only thing that Lisbon will provide for workers is more pain and misery and further attacks on their living standards and working conditions."

NO to Lisbon 2 launched

With just six weeks to go to the second Lisbon Treaty referendum, there was a real sense of vigour, urgency and determination amongst activists and members of the public who packed into Liberty Hall for the launch of the No to Lisbon 2 campaign.

Organised by the Campaign Against the EU Constitution, Tuesday’s meeting heard calls for a united left-wing campaign that would put a halt to the grand plans of the European Union’s political elite. The meeting was addressed by trade union activists from both Ireland and Britain as well as Irish political representatives and attended by over 150 people.

Jimmy Kelly, regional secretary of trade union Unite, denounced the European Court of Justice, which he said had savaged the principles of social justice and solidarity and eroded workers’ rights, subordinating them to the interests of business. Linking the erosion of workers’ rights with the Lisbon Treaty, Kelly contrasted the Twenty-Six County government’s refusal to legislate for free collective bargaining and statutory recognition of trade unions with the state’s swift response to end the occupation by workers at Thomas Cook and haul them before the courts. Pledging the full support of Unite, he called for a united left-wing campaign that would mobilise grassroots members of the trade union movement to take the message into workplaces and local communities.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union, delivered an impassioned speech that denounced the principles upon which the Lisbon Treaty was constructed. Reminding the meeting that the Lisbon Treaty enshrines the principle of competition, the internal market and the policy of privatisation within the EU, he called for the unity of workers across Europe to defeat the neo-liberal agenda. The EU project as enunciated in Lisbon was about controlling labour and privatising public services; workers’ rights came second to the movement of free trade he said. Rejecting establishment attempts to label the No side as ‘anti-European isolationists’, Crow declared he was pro-European, pro-African, pro-American, pro-Asian but anti the European Union. Summing up, he argued that the Lisbon Treaty presented two options: a bosses’ Europe or a workers’ Europe and workers’ world. He pledged the support of his comrades in Britain and said the referendum in the Twenty-Six Counties offered an opportunity to re-ignite a European wide campaign.

There followed a lively discussion from the floor, during which a range of issues were debated. Workers’ rights, specifically the ongoing lock-out of workers at Dublin docks and the employment of scab labour, were of particular concern. The meeting was also addressed by Ed Horgan of the Irish Anti-War movement, who pointed out that the Twenty-Six County government has allowed 1.5 million US troops to pass through Shannon airport over the last eight years and is complicit in the killing of a million people in Iraq and Afghanistan, including 250,000 children.

éirígí spokesperson Daithí Mac An Mháistír, who attended the launch of the No campaign on Tuesday morning, called for the maximum effort from all activists over the coming six weeks.

“éirígí intends playing a full and active part in the campaign to defeat the bosses’ charter that is the Lisbon Treaty,” Daithí said.

“Already, our activists have been busy getting the message out. This referendum represents a blatant attack on democratic principles; regardless of the spin, it is the same Treaty.

“The economic model proposed by Lisbon has completely failed working class people. The antidote to the current jobs catastrophe facing workers is not an even stronger dose of neo-liberalism.

“This treaty must be defeated because the fact of it being put to referendum in the Twenty-Six Counties on October 2 represents a negation of democracy. This is the third time that the provisions contained in Lisbon will have been voted upon. On both previous occasions, it was defeated: the peoples of France and the Netherlands rejected the identical EU Constitution in 2005, and the people of the Twenty-Six Counties did likewise when the Lisbon Treaty re-incarnation of the EU Constitution was defeated by the votes of almost a million people in June 2008.

“Once again, the right to vote on the provisions of Lisbon has been denied to over 350 million European citizens. Indeed, éirígí has activists across the Six Counties who will, once again, be denied their say on a treaty that, if ratified, will utterly transform the economic, political and social character of the EU in a direction that is damaging to their interests. It is therefore incumbent upon all those who profess to believe in democracy to campaign to ensure that Lisbon is defeated once again.”

Fianna Fáil MEP accused of misleading the public over Lisbon guarantees

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has accused Fianna Fáil MEP Pat the Cope Gallagher of "misleading the public" over the Lisbon Treaty. He said that the "guarantees" that the Cope claims are legally binding are in fact "political promises from untrustworthy politicians" with no legal standing.

Casey said: "Pat the Cope Gallagher claims that people are being disingenuous by highlighting the fact that the second Lisbon Treaty referendum is exactly the same as the first referendum which was democratically rejected last year. However, it is Pat the Cope who is being disingenuous and misleading the public."

He added: "This is the exact same treaty we voted on and rejected last year. Every word, sentence and paragraph included in the Treaty is the very same as last time around. The guarantees which Pat is so intent to promote as being "legally binding" are nothing of the sort. They have no legal basis and do not override the content of the Treaty itself. They are simply political promises from politicians at both Irish and European level who, on the basis of their records, cannot be trusted to keep any promises they make."

"This Treaty, under its previous guise as the EU constitution, has already been rejected by the French and Dutch public. The EU ignored those democratic decisions. Following our rejection of that re-named constitution, now called the Lisbon Treaty, the EU and the Fianna Fáil led administration ignored that democratic vote also. This reveals the fundamentally undemocratic nature of the EU itself and how they will stop at nothing as they attempt to entrench their neo-liberalism and privatisation agenda, further deepen the democratic deficit of the union and move towards their desired EU super-state."

Also responding to the claims by the Fianna Fáil MEP, éirígí Tír Chonaill spokesperson Micheál Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig said that "this is a deliberate tactic to deceive the public into thinking that they are voting on something different in this second referendum."

"It is an attempt by them to make people believe the treaty has somehow been altered, even though this is clearly untrue" he said.

éirígí challenge Pat the Cope over Lisbon scaremongering

Tír Chonaill éirígí spokesperson Micheál Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig has refuted claims by Pat the Cope Gallagher that the future of the Irish economy depended on a yes vote in the upcoming Lisbon Treaty referendum. He also called on him to stop engaging in such scaremongering tactics.

MacGiolla Easbuig said: “Pat the Cope's claims that a yes vote is essential for economic recovery is just the latest in a long line of attempts by him and his party colleagues to deceive the public and to frighten them into voting yes to a referendum that they have already democratically rejected.”

He added: “Despite Pat the Copes best efforts to pretend otherwise, a vote for Lisbon will not solve the economic crisis that he and his colleagues created. It will in fact make matters worse. It would give the green light to continue with the same economic madness, the neo-liberal, privatisation agenda responsible for the crisis, globally and here in Ireland. Pat the Cope is trying to deceive people by pretending that more of the disease that actually caused the recession – unbridled greed and neo-liberal capitalism – will cure the disease. Nothing could be further from the truth”

“We need to be very clear here. The Lisbon Treaty is about consolidating political power in a centralized, ‘free market’ based, neo-liberal Europe that the Eurocrat establishment has as its primary objective. A united states of Europe for the benefit of wealthy politicians and businessmen, maintained on the exploitation of the 500 million working citizens of this continent. While that vision of Europe may be acceptable to Pat and his cronies, such an undemocratic and unjust Europe is not acceptable to éirígí.”

MacGiolla Easbuig concluded: “The deception and scaremongering that Fianna Fáil and the political establishment are engaged in is despicable, but not surprising. The public expect and deserve a lot better from their elected representatives and I would urge Pat the Cope to stop trying to frighten people into voting for a Treaty on the basis of this type of misinformation. ”

Opposition to Lisbon 2 Underway

Opposition to the re-running of the Lisbon Treaty got underway in Sligo at the weekend and in Dublin yesterday [Wednesday].

On Saturday éirígí activists in Sligo erected a number of banners calling for a NO vote in the upcoming referendum at various locations around the town. Amongst the locations were Carraroe and Summerhill roundabouts.

And on Wednesday, in a coordinated action, éirígí activists hung banners in several prominent locations across Dublin city and county. Banners reading Same Treaty, Same Answer and Vote No to Lisbon 2 were dropped in Drimnagh, Quarryvale, Palmerston and Tallaght to highlight the undemocratic nature of the Twenty-Six County government’s decision to re-run a treaty that was rejected at the polls last year.

In June 2008, the Lisbon Treaty was defeated in the Twenty-Six Counties by a margin of 53.4 to 46.6 per cent. However, within minutes of the announcement of the result, the establishment in Ireland and abroad was calling for a re-run.

In the intervening period, the Dublin government has made a poor attempt to prove that it has listened to the concerns of the population. Brian Cowen and Twenty-Six County foreign minister Micheál Martin scurried off to Brussels to secure supposedly legally-binding changes to the Lisbon Treaty, in a desperate attempt to con the electorate in to believing that the Treaty had somehow been significantly altered. The reality is that not a single word, comma or full stop has been changed in the Treaty and people are being forced to vote again on the same document.

According to Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey the claims of legal guarantees are"untrue and deliberately misleading".

Casey said: “What the political establishment in Dublin and in Brussels are saying is part of a pattern of deliberate misinformation emenating from them in the run up to this referendum. The guarantees they refer to are meaningless political promises from politicians at both European and Irish level who have a record of breaking such election promises on a consistent basis. Their records, both domestically and in Europe, show they cannot be trusted.”

"These guarantees are not included in the treaty, do not over-ride the content of the treaty and are not worth the paper they are written on. They are nothing more than a cynical public relations exercise designed to divert attention away from the negative effect that a yes vote for this treaty will have on sovereignty, democracy and the rights of workers throughout Europe."

After the banner drop in Dublin, éirígí spokesperson Daithí Mac An Mhaistír said: “Wednesday’s action is the first by éirígí in what will be a vigorous campaign against the mark two Lisbon referendum. éirígí intends to play an active role in the progressive No campaign and is confident that the argument can be won for a second time.

“All of the reasons why éirígí and the Campaign Against the European Union Constitution opposed the Lisbon Treaty during the first campaign remain ensconced within the document. The implementation of the Lisbon Treaty would ensure the further erosion of workers’ rights, sovereignty and democracy.

“The fact that the exact same Treaty is being placed before the electorate in the Twenty-Six Counties for a second time proves the point that democracy and sovereignty are anathema to the European Union’s empire-building project.”

Daithí concluded: “Last year’s defeat of the Lisbon Treaty in the Twenty-Six Counties sent shock waves through the right-wing establishment across Europe, a second rejection would give them even more food for thought.”

Lisbon 2 – Democracy EU-Style

The vision of a unified Europe first articulated in the Schuman Declaration of May 9th 1950, to the effect that “the pooling of coal and steel production should immediately provide for the setting up of common foundations for economic development as a first step in the federation of Europe”, is the vision that has guided the European project since its inception. We must be under no illusion that it is the consolidation of political power in a centralized, ‘free market’ based, neo-liberal Europe that the Eurocrat establishment has as its primary objective. All European treaties throughout the last 60 years have been directed at progressing towards the achievement of this objective. Essentially this is what Lisbon 1 was about. It is what Nice 1 and 2 were about. The particulars of the ‘assurances’ or ‘guarantees’ agreed at the EU summit of June 19th notwithstanding, this is what the coming Lisbon 2 is about also.

We will be made to vote again and again if needs be until we vote ‘right’, both literally and figuratively – until we vote to accept that the economic and political future of the millions of people who inhabit the EU area is best determined by an unelected Commission and a burgeoning and ever-more powerful EU bureaucracy. Such is ‘democracy’ EU-style. It is the epitome of bourgeois democracy – replete with the illusion of substance, yet in practice inherently anti-democratic in any real sense, and directed fundamentally at securing the interests of capital and its political servants.

Most of the ‘assurances’ agreed by EU heads of State at the summit relate to issues (such as conscription, abortion and taxation etc.) that never formed part of the left opposition’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty. Nowhere in all of the campaigning against Lisbon that éirígí was involved in were these types of issues seriously articulated by the man and woman on the street. They do not reflect the grounds upon which working class people came out comprehensively against the Treaty. The CAEUC, of which éirígí is a member, based its opposition to Lisbon primarily upon the fact that the Treaty would undermine sovereignty, was fundamentally anti-worker, promoted greed over need and increased the militarization of Europe. Many of the 862,415 Irish citizens (over 53 per cent of the 26-county electorate) who voted against the Lisbon Treaty agreed with this analysis and opted to vote against the vision of Europe that was being proposed by those who deigned to tell them what was in their best interests, having already discarded the democratic determination of the peoples of both France and the Netherlands and denied all other European peoples the right to vote one way or the other. This is democracy EU-style.

As to what will be different this time? There is absolutely nothing about the assurances ‘secured’ by Cowen et al. on June 19th that will in any way, shape or form alter the substance of the Lisbon Treaty. Not one full stop, nor comma, of the Treaty will be altered. The fundamentals of Lisbon remain the same: it codifies neo-liberalism, further deepens the democratic deficit and progresses the Eurocrat plan for an EU super-state. The ‘assurances’ given with regard to the fear of creeping EU militarism are instructive in this regard. That the assurances can state that the 26-County government may “determine the nature and volume of its defence and security expenditure and the nature of its defence capabilities” at the same time as the text of the Lisbon Treaty obliges all signatories to commit to “progressively' improving (military) capabilities” highlights the contradiction between what is being said and what must be done. The EU bureaucracy is speaking out of both sides of its mouth. What the ‘assurances’ amount to is subterfuge and scaremongering. Subterfuge in that the ‘assurances’ are intended to give the impression of a changed Treaty while doing nothing of the sort in reality. When Brian Cowen states that: “We came here (to Brussels) with two aims. Ireland (sic) wanted firm legal guarantees. We got them. We wanted a commitment to a protocol. We got that. I am confident we now have a solid basis to go to the (sic) Irish people and to ask them again for their approval for Ireland (sic) to ratify the Treaty so that Europe can move on”, he is engaging in a display of shocking cynicism. He implies that the ‘assurances’ are something other than mere legal re-statements of aspects of the existing Treaty, which they are not.

The scaremongering is to be found in the subtext to all of this, which is as follows: “if we don’t vote yes, what is an already economically disastrous situation, will be compounded and exponentially made worse”. The implication is that accepting Lisbon will help rescue Ireland from the depths of the economic recession it finds itself in. Given the fact that neo-liberal ‘free’ market economics is what caused the global meltdown in the first place and the fact that the same neo-liberal agenda is codified in Lisbon, the proponents of a Yes vote are like quack doctors whose proposed cure for a disease is more disease.

We must resist the renewed attempt to have the Lisbon Treaty forced upon us as we did when we first defeated Lisbon against all odds in June 2008. On that occasion, the people of the Twenty-Six Counties defended the democratic rights of all of the peoples of Europe. Once again we must organise to reject the anti-democratic, anti-worker, anti-citizen paradigm that the Lisbon Treaty represents. We must organise to reject the notion that a neo-liberal EU super-state can deliver the people of Europe anything than a continuation of denial of democracy, capitalist crisis and periodic economic meltdown. Our position with regard to Lisbon 1 was quite simply that saying NO to Lisbon was to say yes to the possibility of a democratic Europe, to the possible realisation of an “internationalism based upon the ideal of a free federation of free peoples”. It remains our position, no matter what ‘assurances’ emanate from Brussels or any other EU bourgeois institution.

SAY NO TO A UNITED STATES OF EUROPE – SAY NO TO LISBON 2