Labour leader Eamon Gilmore today warned against complacency in the Lisbon Yes campaign and dismissed what he said was nostalgia for a past Ireland among some No campaigners.
Speaking at Leinster House this afternoon at the unveiling of his party's poster/billboard campaign for the Lisbon Reform Treaty Referendum, Mr Gilmore said the campaign is now entering a “decisive phase”.
He said the Irish Times/TNS mrbi poll showing a majority of two to one in favour among voters who had made up their mind is a “very positive and encouraging development” but added it was a concern that almost 50 per cent of the electorate is still undecided.
“It is human nature that people who are opposed to something proposed in a referendum are more likely to turn out and vote than those who support the proposition. We have to convince the silent majority who are well disposed to the EU to recognise that the Lisbon Reform Treaty is important for Europe and for Ireland, he said.”
Mr Gilmore warned that the real danger is a low turnout on June 12th that did not accurately reflect national opinion on the Lisbon Treaty .
Declaring his pride in being Irish and enthusiasm for the EU, Mr Gilmore criticised some of those calling for a No vote as “people who appear to want to turn the clock back and are nostalgic for the sort of narrow, poverty stricken, isolationist Ireland we had in the 1950s”.
”For instance one poster on the No side carries the slogan 'People Died for Your Freedom Don’t Throw it All Away”, superimposed on a copy of the 1916 Proclamation. This is a totally false proposition.”
The Labour leader added: ”There is also an implicit inferiority complex on the part of some of those on the No side who appear to think that we will be outwitted and outfoxed by the clever Europeans. We are told that they will force us to raise our corporation tax rates; they will trick us into losing our veto; and we will be seduced into a European army.”
He said all member states would retain their right for their own national laws, taxation and foreign policy decisions.
The party's posters will be featured on a mobile advertising vehicle and a number of bikes.
Labour decided to campaign for a Yes vote even before the Lisbon Treaty was signed by European heads of government in December.
