SINN FÉIN’S rejection of the legal guarantees given to Ireland on the Lisbon Treaty and its claim that the treaty was bad for the Irish economy were attacked last night by Fianna Fáil MEPs and by former president of the European Parliament Pat Cox.
Mr Cox said Sinn Féin’s dismissal of the legal guarantees, obtained by the Government from Ireland’s partners in Europe to address Irish voters’ concerns, was opportunistic and ungenerous. Mr Cox, director of Ireland for Europe, said Sinn Féin’s claim that a second No vote to Lisbon would mean a renegotiation of the treaty was “misleading, delusional and arrogant”. He said the party’s argument that Lisbon was the product of right-wing politicians was negated by the fact that it was ratified by the other 26 EU states.
“Opposition politicians as well as government ones, representing left-wing parties as well as those on the centre and right – a total of 85 per cent of them – voted in favour of it,” he said.
“Where would Ireland be now if it was not a member of the European Union and of the euro zone?” asked North West MEP Pat “the Cope” Gallagher.
Ireland South MEP Brian Crowley said many people were concerned during the referendum campaign last year that the treaty diminished Irish neutrality and that was why he fully supported the legal guarantee on defence agreed for Ireland by EU leaders.
