Voting No to the Amsterdam Treaty will not result in Ireland being left in limbo but will allow it to renegotiate for a more democratic Europe, the Green MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, told the party's Spring Convention in Cork at the weekend.
"The Government would have us believe that unless we agree to push ahead with the Treaty as it stands, we'll be left in a dangerous state of limbo. The same scaremongering tactics were used back in 1992 when we were voting on Maastricht.
"The Government warned that if we voted No we would be left behind. But the Danes noted No and they won important changes. Ireland can and must do the same," said Ms McKenna, adding that the Amsterdam Treaty is at odds with a democratic Europe. She said that the Yes campaign is quoted as saying that Irish neutrality is not endangered by the treaty, but Article J7 specifically provides for a common defence policy which is compatible with NATO.
"If the Irish Government truly wanted to safeguard Ireland's neutrality, it could have inserted a protocol to the Amsterdam Treaty similar to the one inserted by Denmark," Ms McKenna told the convention attended by about 70 party members. "The Danes have stated that they will not participate in any way in decisions or actions of the EU which have defence implications and that they will not be obliged to finance any operational expenditure undertaken in the defence area.".
Ms McKenna pointed out that when the Greens tabled an amendment on the Amsterdam Treaty in the Dail debate which would have guaranteed that the treaty would not compromise Irish militarily neutrality, only five TDs supported it.
The Green Dublin North TD, Mr Trevor Sargent, said the Government's decision to hold votes on the Belfast Agreement and the Amsterdam Treaty on the same day was reckless and insensitive.
"The enthusiasm for the Belfast Agreement is being hijacked to give the impression of interest in the Amsterdam Treaty . . . Such cynicism from the Dublin Government is what gets politics a bad name," he said.
Mr Sargent said that the Belfast Agreement offers the chance of peace but it required a decommissioning not just of arms but also of the mindset of violence which is deeply rooted on both sides.
"If peace is rooted in the soil of justice, tolerance and reconciliation, then in effect the war is over and I urge the IRA and other armed groups to confirm this so that we may have peace of mind as well as peace itself," he said.
The Dublin South-East Green TD, Mr John Gormley, told the convention that the party had the potential to become the fourth-largest political party in Ireland but it would have to target its resources on winnable seats.
"We need to look at our structures and our leadership. We need to target seats and it's something we need to do soon as we head into 1999 with local government and European elections coming up," he said.
Mr Gormley said he believed the Dail should be reduced to about 100 seats and a list election system introduced while he also urged the party to target issues such as air pollution, anti-pylon concerns and traffic congestion to build support.
