Republican News · Thursday 18 October 2001

Government must respect electorate on Nice

Sinn Féin representative to the Forum for Europe, Aengus Ó Snodaigh has described comments from Foreign Affairs Minister Brian Cowen that there will be no change in the text of the Nice Treaty as deeply insulting to the Irish electorate who rejected the Treaty last June.

Speaking in advance of today's first meeting of the Forum, Ó Snodaigh said: "It is time for the government to accept the will of the people and formally request that the other EU governments halt the process of ratification of Nice.

"What Brian Cowen is in effect doing is telling the Irish electorate that because we are small in numbers our voice can be disregarded. The government should be standing up for the wishes of the electorate and not trying to railroad through the Nice Treaty.

"Sinn Féin is totally opposed to a replay of the referendum. The people have rejected the Nice Treaty and therefore this State cannot ratify it. It is our view that the reaction to the referendum result reinforces what we have said about the undemocratic nature of the drive to deepen EU integration. Mr Cowen's comments will just add to such concerns."