Government resorts to trickery to railroad Lisbon Treaty

THE Fianna Fáil/Green/PD Government has been accused by Sinn Féin Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald of “scandalous” and “underhand” tactics in the Lisbon Treaty campaign and and doing deals with the EU to con voters ahead of the referendum vote.The MEP made the allegations after a daily newspaper revealed leaked e-mails showing that Irish Government ministers are planning a deliberate disinformation campaign to confuse the public over the implications of the treaty in a desperate effort to ensure that it is passed.According to the Irish Daily Mail, Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern has been “personally assured” that the European Commission will ‘tone down or delay’ any announcement from Brussels ‘that might be unhelpful’ until after people in the 26 Counties vote on the Treaty.According to the Mail, the leaked e-mail even says that ministers ruled out an October referendum (which would have been better procedurally) because they fear ‘unhelpful developments’ during the French presidency – particularly related to EU defence’.This has again raised legitimate fears that Irish neutrality will be fatally undermined if the Lisbon Treaty is passed.

http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/27412