Opposing sides in the debate on the EU constitution were at loggerheads yesterday, even though the Government has yet to announce a referendum date.
Although the Green Party has yet to take a position, its former MEP for Dublin, Patricia McKenna, acting in a personal capacity, chaired a news conference in Dublin to launch the National Campaign Against the EU Constitution.
She said the campaign wanted to make sure the people were "well informed". Holding up her copy of the constitution, she said: "As you can see, it's a huge document which covers a huge number of areas."
She deplored the fact that, after the first Nice referendum, the Government had, in a move undertaken "on the day of the Christmas holidays", taken away the right of the Referendum Commission to present both sides of the argument.
Ms McKenna was unsure who precisely was involved in the campaign, but a spokesman said later the following organisations were affiliated: Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA), Democracy and Public Services in Europe (DAPSE), People's Movement, Sinn Féin, Socialist Workers' Party, Workers' Party, and Communist Party of Ireland. Members of other parties and non-party individuals were involved in a personal capacity.
Ailbhe Smyth, head of women's studies at UCD, said she was concerned about the implications of the constitution, which was "rooted very strongly in right-wing, monetarist policy". It would allow the movement of capital, "unhindered and unimpeded by any considerations of social justice, of equality."
UCD lecturer Dr Andy Storey said the constitution would significantly advance the militarisation of the EU. There was "a dangerous vagueness and looseness" in the military area.
Artist Robert Ballagh said the EU was moving into "the malign phase" of its development. "We are moving into an area of less democracy rather than more democracy," he said and he criticised the "impenetrable language" used by supporters of the constitution, a "document the size of a telephone directory".
Although Sinn Féin was not on the platform, the party notified journalists of the event by e-mail. Its Dublin MEP, Mary Lou McDonald, said in a press statement that the constitution undermined neutrality and sought to transform the EU into a global superpower, with its own foreign minister, army and armanents agency.
Minister of State for European Affairs Noel Treacy said it was regrettable that "scaremongering and bogus arguments are coming from the usual quarters".