Republican News · Thursday 3 October 2002

Democracy the key issue

SF launch Nice campaign while Labour capitulate on EU bill

BY ROBBIE MacGABHANN

"Building a better Europe for all" and "defending democracy" were two of the key themes outlined by Sinn Féin last week when the party launched its No to Nice campaign. The party is "mounting an intensive ground campaign", with party membership distributing over 500,000 newssheets, canvas cards and leaflets to households throughout the 26Counties according to campaign director Daithí Doolan.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams stressed the importance of the 19 October vote. He said: "This is a vital vote for the Irish people. It is an opportunity to have a real say in the future development of the European Union."

Adams told the Dublin press conference launch that "over the last few weeks we have listened to a lot of scaremongering, bullying and negative campaigning.

"Sinn Fein wants to see a new EU Treaty based on the EU as a partnership of equals. We want to see our democratic rights protected, not eroded. We want to be part of an EU that does not prevent us from deciding how to spend our own money."

Sinn Fein Parliamentary Group leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin emphasised the "democracy issues" in the referendum and said that this referendum is "about the democratic accountability of a government which quite deliberately defied the decision of the electorate in last year's referendum on Nice".

Ó Caoláin also hit out at the coalition government's deliberate avoidance of the actual details of the Nice Treaty. Ó Caoláin said: "Last week, the Taoiseach referred to these as "minor institutional arrangements" and said he did not want to go into the complexities of the Treaty. Obviously, the Yes side does not want to deal with the detail of the Treaty."

Labour rolls over

d as the Sinn Féin campaign gears up, the Labour Party rolled over and let the coalition gut their EU Scrutiny bill. Sinn Féin spokesperson on Europe Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD has characterised as "shameful" the Labour Party's decision to capitulate.

Sinn Féin had tabled amendments to strengthen the positive elements of Labour's original bill. Ó Snodaigh, who is a member of the Select Committee on European Affairs, said "there were aspects of this bill that we would have supported. However, we also had a number of significant concerns, and we have tabled amendments."

Ó Snodaigh believed that the legislation allowed too much ministerial discretion. "Significantly, this bill also sought to legislate for participation in the EU Rapid Reaction Force and would also allow for participation with NATO's Partnership for Peace," he said. "We were seeking to have these sections of the bill changed, to ensure that the Irish Defence Forces are restricted to participation in UN peacekeeping missions only."

The government amendments, which Labour has now accepted, said Ó Snodaigh, fundamentally gut all the positive aspects of the original bill and seek to circumscribe scrutiny of EU legislation while increasing ministerial discretion.

"Such amendments are an affront to expressed public concerns about the need for increased scrutiny and reflect fully the arrogance and disdain with which the government regards the Irish people. The Coalition/Labour amendments have also now struck out any reference to limiting the participation of the Irish Defence Forces in UN missions only when deployed abroad. This is another serious cause for concern. It flies in the face of expressed public concerns about the status of Irish neutrality."

Sinn Féin voted against the government amendments, and will vote against them when the bill reaches report stage, vowed Ó Snodaigh, who also called for Labour to withdraw the bill rather than allow it to pass in the amended form.