Government urged to scrap referendum broadcasting rules

The Government was today urged to scrap the rule demanding equal broadcasting coverage be given to the Yes and No camps in referendum campaigns.

The joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution claimed broadcasters felt they were being straitjacketed into giving the same air time to both sides, even if the opposition was tiny.

Eugene Regan, Fine Gael Senator, said last year’s Lisbon Treaty campaign showed the 50/50 requirement had destroyed informed debate.

All members of the committee supported the failed document, which is expected to be put to the people again in the autumn.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0402/breaking76.htm

Sinn Féin accuses Government of not consulting public on Lisbon

Sinn Fein is accusing the Taoiseach of consulting with his European colleagues, but not with the Irish public, on the proposed second referendum on Lisbon.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/ireland/politics/sinn-fein-accuses-government-of-not-consulting-public-on-lisbon-14237777.html

Veiled Lisbon threat from German Ambassador

THE German ambassador to Ireland sparked a new row over Lisbon last night as the EU planned a €1.8m information blitz.

German Ambassador Christian Pauls warned that the country would "throw away its future" if it voted no a second time -- as the European Commission planned an information campaign to encourage a 'Yes' in the Lisbon II vote.

'No' campaigners claim the money will be spent on EU "propaganda".

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/diplomat-sparks-new-lisbon-row-as-eu-plans-836418m-blitz-1677888.html

Libertas launches as a political party in the UK

The anti-Lisbon Treaty group Libertas has launched itself as a political party in the UK.

The party has said it will run candidates there in the European Parliament elections on June 4, as well as elsewhere in the EU.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/eyaucwkfgbgb/

Report accuses RTÉ of pro-Lisbon bias

RTÉ’s coverage of the Lisbon treaty was heavily biased in favour of the yes side, a report carried out by an anti-Lisbon group has claimed.

The study by the Campaign Against the EU Constitution (CAEUC), claims 63% of the contributors to RTÉ news items focused on the Lisbon treaty were supporting a yes vote.

Three television programmes (Six One News, Nine News and Questions & Answers) and three radio programmes (Morning Ireland, News At One and Drivetime News) were analysed via RTÉ’s website from January 1 to June 14, 2008.

The study found that out of 510 contributors to these programmes, 320 (63%) favoured a yes vote, while 190 (37%) favoured a no vote.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/idgbausnid/

Sinn Féin to campaign for another No to Lisbon

SINN FÉIN has clearly signalled it will campaign for another No vote in the second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

Speaking at the opening of the party’s Árd Fheis in Dublin last night, Sinn Féin’s Padraig MacLochlainn insisted Lisbon was the "wrong treaty" for Ireland and Europe.

Sinn Féin was the only party in the Dáil to campaign against Lisbon in the first referendum last year. Following the treaty’s defeat, the party said the No vote was a clear signal to the Government that the document had to be renegotiated.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/idojaueygb/

Swing in favour of Lisbon treaty

The latest poll shows that 51 per cent would now vote Yes to the treaty in a referendum, an increase of eight points since the last Irish Times poll in November, with 33 per cent saying they would vote No, a drop of six points. There are still 16 per cent in the “Don’t Know” category (down 2 points). When undecided voters are excluded, the Yes side has 60.7 per cent, with 39.3 per cent in the No camp. That compares to the referendum result last June of 53.4 per cent No and 46.6 per cent Yes.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0216/breaking15.htm

European Parliament puts Libertas funding on hold

An application from Libertas for funding as a political party at the European level has been put on hold.

The European Parliament is authorised to grant funding to parties which satisfy rigorous requirements to show their European qualifications.

An Estonian MP listed as backing Libertas's application now insists that he had not signed any document.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0203/libertas.html

Cowen confident of 'Yes' vote for Lisbon re-run

Taoiseach Brian Cowen last night said he was "confident" the planned second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty will be successful.

But Mr Cowen said the Government would have to take it "step by step" and stressed he was not yet in position to formally call a second poll by next October.

Following an EU summit, at which he secured concessions on four major issues of concern for the Irish people, Mr Cowen is on track to run Lisbon II.

"On the basis of the agreement today, and on condition of our being able to satisfactorily put guarantees in place, I have said that I would be prepared to return to the public to put a new package and to seek their approval to it," he said.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/cowen-confident-of-yes-vote-for-lisbon-rerun-1573730.html

"Govt betraying Irish people"

Libertas president Declan Ganley is accusing the Irish Government of betraying the Irish people by planning to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

Under a plan being discussed by EU leaders in Brussels, the Government will hold another referendum before the end of next October in an effort to overturn last June's 'no' vote.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhsnauausnid/

Barroso 'convinced' Irish Lisbon demands can be met

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said today he was “convinced” the EC can satisfy the Irish electorate's concerns over the Lisbon Treaty.

Speaking ahead of this week’s crucial European Council summit on Thursday and Friday, Mr Barroso said the meeting must find a way of enabling Ireland to reverse the No vote on the treaty last June.

“I am convinced that we can respond to [Brian Cowen’s] national concerns while finding a European solution”, Mr Barroso told a news conference in Brussels.

Mr Cowen last week met key European leaders and Mr Barroso to discuss the Lisbon treaty.

Charlie McCreevy talks sense

LIBERTAS chief Declan Ganley outmanoeuvred all the political parties on the Lisbon Treaty campaign and won the argument, European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has claimed.

In a veiled criticism of the tactics and performance of Fianna Fail and other pro-treaty parties, Mr McCreevy said the Libertas founder had been listened to more than anybody else and was "singularly successful" in getting people to vote 'No'.

The referendum turnout also suggested that a "considerable segment" of the 53pc who voted were those who failed to vote in last year's general election, the European Commissioner said.

"So, therefore, people did take the issue very seriously. So, that has to be respected," he said.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/ganley-won-lisbon-debate-says-mccreevy-1563001.html

Refusal to declare Lisbon dead 'treason'

REFUSING TO declare the Lisbon Treaty dead was an "act of treason the likes of which has not been seen since the Act of Union", an Oireachtas subcommittee on Europe was told yesterday.

In a brief presentation that ended in a shouting match and a walk-out, Richard Greene, chairman of anti-Lisbon group Cóir, said the sole objective of the Sub-Committee on Ireland's Future in Europe was "to attempt to overturn the democratic wishes of the majority of the Irish people who voted No" to the treaty.

The subcommittee was set up to examine the result of the Lisbon Treaty referendum and to suggest ways forward for Ireland in the aftermath of the No vote.

Mr Greene said the "brazen effrontery and blatant denial of the result shows the contempt in which the political parties hold the people.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1121/1227137525422.html

Some EU parliaments saw Ireland's rejection of Lisbon as 'disappointing'

A DETAILED survey of all 27 parliaments in the European Union shows that some regard Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty as a "deep disappointment" and as having created a backlash.

The Bulgarian parliament states that it is "disappointed" with the Irish outcome, as do the parliaments of Slovakia and Slovenia.

The response from the German Bundestag says Ireland's rejection will create a backlash for EU reform, while stressing that ratification must continue.

Greece states that its parliament ratified the treaty by a large majority. "[We must conclude] that we all, not only our Irish colleagues, failed to provide the necessary information on the treaty's benefits and [failed] to widen the public discourse."

The Latvian assembly says ratification is not an option but a necessity, and Lithuania says that members of its parliament have expressed their regret about the Irish outcome at various meetings.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1106/1225893546475.html

Government will agree to Lisbon re-run

The Irish government will give a general commitment to attempt to ratify the Lisbon Treaty when the European Council meets in early December, but will resist pressure from European leaders seeking a date for a second Irish referendum.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen is likely to give a commitment to attempt a ratification of the treaty pending declarations from the other EU member states on abortion, neutrality and tax. These declarations could be completed by the end of the year.

Cowen will tell EU leaders that a ratification will not be possible before the European Parliament elections scheduled for June, which will now have to be held under the old Nice Treaty rules.

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=IRELAND-qqqm=news-qqqid=37275-qqqx=1.asp

Bruton: We need second Lisbon vote

EU AMBASSADOR to the United States and former taoiseach John Bruton has called for a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty because Irish people did not understand it when they rejected it the first time.

Mr Bruton said people should be given a “second opportunity” to vote on the treaty, but warned that another rejection would be “a very serious setback” for the country. Addressing the special Oireachtas Committee on the Lisbon treaty, Mr Bruton said: “If I was pushed into a corner and asked I would say I would favour a second referendum.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=ireland-qqqm=ireland-qqqa=ireland-qqqid=76183-qqqx=1.asp

EU plans to force second Lisbon vote

PLANS to isolate Ireland and force the country to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon treaty by next March were discussed at a European Union meeting 10 days ago.

Minutes of the event, and of a separate dinner with the French minister for European affairs, record how key French politicians and other MEPs said that Ireland should be put in an “untenable position” by pressing Poland and the Czech Republic to ratify the treaty by December.

The minutes were made available by a high-level source who attended both events. They tally with publicly available EU minutes but include direct quotes rather than the diplomatic language of the official record.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article4969353.ece

Active rebuttal of Lisbon misinformation urged

IN THE wake of the Irish vote on the Lisbon Treaty, the European Commission's vice-president has called for a more vigorous engagement by the commission in responding to "misinformation" about the treaty and the EU.

Sweden's commissioner Margot Wallström, in an internal letter to fellow commissioners on the lessons to be drawn from the Irish vote for EU communications policy, calls for the setting up of a "rebuttal function" within the EU executive to counter the type of misinformation she argues was spread by anti-EU forces during the referendum campaign.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/1010/breaking3.htm

Tempers flare at first Lisbon 'think-in'

THE NEW Oireachtas sub- committee on Lisbon was set up in a bid to reconcile the 'Yes' and 'No' sides following the fallout from the referendum.

But instead it began with yet another row as it attempted to get down to business yesterday.

The cross-party committee is due to meet 24 times over the next eight weeks in a frantic effort to establish 'Ireland's future in Europe' before Taoiseach Brian Cowen travels to Brussels for a crucial EU summit in December. At its opening session yesterday, Senator Pascal Donohoe pleaded with members to "look to the future" and not "bore" people with the same old arguments about the treaty.

But he was then attacked by the sole Sinn Fein member, Senator Pearse Doherty, who complained that the committee could be used to make the case for a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/tempers-flare-at-first-lisbon-thinkin-1493157.html

Bilderberg Group says Ireland set for Lisbon 'dog house'

IRELAND will be in Europe's "dog house" if we reject the Lisbon Treaty in a second referendum, according to the chairman of the secretive global businesss organisation, the Bilderberg Group.

Viscount Etienne Davignon issued the stark caution in a rare interview ahead of addressing an international conference on Lisbon in University College Cork (UCC) on Wednesday.

"Ireland will be in the dog house if it says no for a second time", Davignon told the Sunday Tribune." The other states who ratified the Treaty have now become hostages of the Irish position and the Irish should have had some respect for the opinions of the other states.

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2008/oct/05/ireland-set-for-lisbon-dog-house/