THE GOVERNMENT has made the first moves to establish a Referendum Commission in advance of a new poll on the Lisbon Treaty in the autumn, for which the necessary legislation is to be published next week.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley has written to Chief Justice John Murray asking him to consider who should be appointed as chairman of the commission in the event of agreement on the Irish legal guarantees at the EU summit in Brussels which begins today.
The Chief Justice was told the Government had decided in principle to establish a commission and proceed quickly with legislation in the event of a decision at the summit to agree to the Irish legal guarantees. The letter added the Minister would be in touch again next week with a formal request to proceed with the establishment of the commission if the guarantees were approved at the summit.
By law, the Referendum Commission has to be chaired by either a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge or a serving judge of the High Court to be selected by the Chief Justice. During the first Lisbon campaign, the commission was chaired by High Court judge Iarfhlaith O’Neill. The other members of the commission were comptroller and auditor general John Purcell, Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly, Clerk of the Dáil Kieran Coughlan and Clerk of the Seanad Deirdre Lane.
There was some criticism of the last commission for the confusion that surrounded its information campaign on the Lisbon Treaty, particularly its television advertising. In its report on the campaign published earlier this year, the commission defended its role and criticised the amount of time it had been given to prepare for the campaign. It suggested that a minimum of 158 days was required for it to do its work, given the complexity of the issue.
However, the Government has decided to go for a shorter campaign and is preparing for a referendum at the end of September or early October. The most likely date is Friday, October 2nd, or a week earlier on September 25th.
The referendum Bill will be published next week and is scheduled to be passed by the Dáil and Seanad before the summer recess in early to mid-July. Polling has to take place between 30 and 90 days after the passing of the legislation, which would mean a referendum could be held any time between the middle of August and the middle of October.
The refusal of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern to name the referendum date until well into the campaign in the first Lisbon referendum generated a lot of negative publicity for the Yes side. It is expected this time the date will be named before the campaign gets under way. The commission will be established as soon as the Bill is signed into law.
Government sources expressed confidence yesterday that agreement on the Irish guarantees and the form in which they will be given legal effect will be reached at the two-day EU Council meeting in Brussels which begins today.
