Sign the No2Lisbon re-vote Petition

We petition the President of Ireland Mary McAleese, who holds the power to stop a referendum if it is deemed unconstitutional or undemocratic. We feel that to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty fulfils these requisites and as such, as the elected President of the Irish state we ask her to use her legislative powers and influence on this matter…

http://www.petitiononline.com/LisbonNO/petition.html

Ireland now only EU state to reject Lisbon treaty

The Czech Constitutional Court has ruled that the European Union's reform treaty conforms with Czech law, allowing parliament to proceed with ratification. Ireland is now the only member state which has rejected the treaty.

The lack of Czech ratification so far has raised doubts in the EU about the likely performance of the 6-month Czech EU presidency, starting in January.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/1126/breaking23.htm

Mandelson accuses farmers of lying over treaty

EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson yesterday accused the Irish Farmers' Association of lying to voters ahead of the upcoming referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
Mr Mandelson insisted the EU reform treaty should not be linked to any world trade deal.
"The Irish Farmers Association are getting their facts wrong. The first step is for people to understand what's really at stake in these negotiations and why the Irish beef industry can and will be secured," he said.
"Rejecting the treaty would not be in Ireland's interests. It wouldn't be in Europe's interests."
The IFA has threatened to oppose the new treaty, if Mr Mandelson manages to carve a World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement before the vote on June 12.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/mandelson-accuses-farmers--of-lying-over-treaty-1368536.html

TEEU urges members to vote NO to Lisbon Treaty

The national executive of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union is advising members to vote ‘No’ in the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. General Secretary Designate Eamon Devoy says, “The TEEU favours a social Europe but unfortunately recent key judgements by the European Court of Justice show that the pendulum has swung against workers’ rights and in favour of big business. In the circumstances it would be foolish to provide the institutions of the European Union with more power.“The judgements in the Laval and Viking disputes accepted workers had the right to organise in unions only to negate its value by saying they could not undertake industrial action where it conflicted with the provision of goods and services, regardless of the social consequences. In the recent Ruffert case the Court found that a Polish subcontractor operating in Germany was entitled to pay his workers less than half the agreed minimum wage for the construction sector, because the right to provide unrestricted services took priority over collective wage agreements.

http://www.teeu.ie/news/show.asp?id=219

Establishment shaken by swing against Lisbon Treaty

THE political establishment in the 26 Counties has been shaken by the results of last weekend’s Red C opinion poll which showed a dramatic swing against the Lisbon Treaty, with the ‘Yes’ side leading by just 6 per cent when undecided voters are excluded.The Red C poll in The Sunday Business Post says that among those entitled to vote, 35 per cent are backing the treaty, a fall of eight per cent since the last poll two months ago.Almost a third (31 per cent) are decidedly opposed to Lisbon, an increase of seven points, while another third of voters, 34 per cent, “don’t know”.When those undecided are excluded, the ‘Yes’ side leads by 53 per cent to 47 per cent, a very narrow margin with seven weeks to go to polling.

http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/28205

Lisbon a bad deal for everyone, says Adams

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has claimed the Lisbon Treaty is a 'bad deal for Ireland, for the EU and for the developing world'.
Mr Adams was addressing the National Forum on Europe in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham.
Mr Adams said he was 'baffled' as to how any party could campaign to remove the right to a veto on EU decisions.
He claimed that the Lisbon Treaty would remove the requirement for a referendum before the Government drops its veto.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0501/eulisbon.html

New group launch No to Lisbon campaign

A campaign has been launched against the Lisbon Treaty by Éire go Brách to defend Irish Sovereignty. Maire ní Fhaoite its Campaign Director has said our group intends to focus on three key areas of the Lisbon Treaty - Economy, Sovereignty and Social Traditions. She said “the Lisbon Treaty seeks to undermine Ireland’s independence, and its dictatorial legislation will be the death knell of Ireland’s prosperity. The Irish political parties that are promoting this Treaty have distorted the facts on how beneficial Europe is to our economy, and how much this treaty will effect Ireland’s exports in the coming future. While Ireland has received over € 50 billion in EU funding, in return we have given the EU over € 260 billion. € 240 billion of this was taken from our fisheries, while a further € 20 billion has been paid to the EU in the form of direct taxes and agricultural levies. The Éire go Brách campaign will also highlight how Ireland will have to pay over € 2.2 billion in annual taxes to the EU, while further hidden taxes in the form of EU Directives, could see Irish taxpayers being forced to pay as much as another 10% of Ireland’s GDP to Europe and its private interests. We have been told that Irish businesses will have to pay a further € 2 billion annually in the form of Carbon taxes. This will seriously undermine Irish competitiveness in the manufacturing sector, and Irish consumers will subsequently have to bear the brunt of these prices when they are passed onto the consumer.Irish ExportsMaire ní Fhaoite has also said the Lisbon Treaty will directly affect Irish exports, making them less competitive. This will discourage foreign investment in Ireland and we are likely to see more companies reallocating to Eastern Europe and countries that border the EU, especially those with low Corporate Tax.Ireland at present has a Corporate Tax rate of 12.5%, whereas Germany and France have 38.6% and 34.5% respectfully. Under the Lisbon Treaty the EU Commission intends to harmonies corporate tax rates under a Directive called CCCTB (Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base). Since 91% of the € 84 billion of Irish exports are carried out by foreign owned companies (mainly from the US), the CCCTB tax proposals will no longer make Ireland an attractive place for foreign investment, and it will seriously affect Irish companies wishing to compete against companies in Eastern European, and places like China where wages are almost a fifth of Ireland’s.We are likely to see more Irish people falling into the poverty trap, and many families will be living on day to day subsidence as Europe floods Ireland with cheap labour and cheap foreign products. Recent statistics show that 17% of Irish families are living below the poverty line. If we don't act now this could rise to 25% or upwards of 40%The Irish Government has neglected home-grown industry, and we are no longer self sufficient in harvesting our own internal wealth. Ireland should be looking towards internal regeneration instead of selling our sovereignty and economic rights to foreign interests.

http://www.eiregobrach.ie/

Only 5% understand Lisbon Treaty

Research carried out by the Referendum Commission showed that just 5% of voters understand what the Lisbon Treaty is about.
A sample of voters were asked earlier this month how well they understood the Treaty.
62% of respondents said they 'did not understand it all'.
18% said they 'did not understand it particularly well'.
15% said they understood it 'to some extent'.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0428/lisbon.html

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