IRISH ALLIANCE FOR EUROPE:IRELAND WILL not win goodwill in Europe by "sabotaging the work of 27 governments over seven years", former taoiseach Garret FitzGerald said yesterday.
Dr FitzGerald appealed to voters to not be taken in by what he described the "left-wing and right-wing interests" that make up the No campaign. He said that a No vote would result in Ireland losing a lot of goodwill in the EU.
"It's not a question of threatening. It's a fact. The impact is going to be great," he said.
Dr Fitzgerald was one of nine speakers who addressed a press conference in Dublin yesterday, which aimed to highlight the consequences of a possible No vote on June 12th.
Many of the speakers at the press conference, organised by the Irish Alliance for Europe, returned to the theme of the loss of goodwill. Some also highlighted the problems associated with re-negotiation and the gains for Ireland that would be lost.
The former taoiseach argued that the treaty will make Europe more democratic by extending new power to the EU parliament and also to the Oireachtas.
He also defended the reduction in the number of commissioners.
"The EU Commission has protected our interests [ since 1973]. There has been no setback since we joined . . . A commission of 27 rising to 35 commissioners would not be effective," he said.
Alliance chairman Ruairí Quinn said that a No vote on Thursday would not strengthen the democracy of the EU.
"We are not transferring any additional sovereign powers to the EU in this treaty. We are making sure that the existing powers of the union are exercised in a more open, democratic and transparent way. The Irish parliament will be in at the beginning of EU law-making," said Mr Quinn.
Professor Brigid Laffan, head of the college of human sciences at UCD, pointed to Articles 2 and Article 4 of the treaty, which she said were clear and intelligible and set out the admirable values that will underpin the union.
She also pointed to the positive effect of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
She said, "500,000 women have been trafficked into the EU. For the first time ever, there is a strong framework for co-operation [in the treaty] that uses all our security forces in Europe to tackle this problem.
"If we vote No we will be voting no to the rights of children, not just to children being trafficked but to all the children of the member states," she said.
Farming union president, Jackie Cahill of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association, said that his organisation still opposed the proposed deal in the World Trade Organisation but was backing the treaty. He said this was on the basis that the Government was prepared to veto the outcome if there is a bad deal for farmers.
Renewable power entrepreneur Eddie O'Connor, of Mainstream, said the treaty put energy on the agenda for the first time.
He said Ireland was 92 per cent dependent on imported fuel and that with a population of 4.25 million, the State had little purchasing power when it came to energy security. Praising Europe's renewable energy policies, he said: "No one member state can carry out this huge renewable initiative, without which Europe's energy supply will remain at the whim of oil- and gas-producing countries."
Sean Murphy of Chambers Ireland said the EU had been good for business and workers. Parliament will approve 95 per cent of all legislation after Lisbon, he said.
Blair Horan, the general secretary of the Civil, Public and Services Union, pointed out the gains made by workers in the EU, including four weeks' minimum holidays, 14 weeks' parental leave, and the right to work part-time.
Hazel Nolan, a former president of the Union of Secondary Students, said the EU had promoted exchange programmes like Erasmus and Socrates.
