EDUCATION:TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen has welcomed a statement by the seven university presidents appealing for a Yes vote in the Lisbon Treaty referendum.
Referring to Thursday’s statement, Mr Cowen said during a visit to NUI Galway yesterday: “They have made it clear that they believe that a Yes vote is in the interests of not only our economic future, but also in terms of the very good role that Europe plays in the funding and assistance of the higher education sector in Ireland as well.”
In a statement issued yesterday, the heads of institutes of technology also urged a Yes vote.
They had approved a resolution supporting a Yes vote at a recent Institutes of Technology Ireland (IOTI) meeting.
In a statement, they said they decided “acting in their personal capacity . . . to make this statement because of the huge importance of Europe to Ireland and the future of our young people.
“The treaty will improve the functioning of the EU and its capacity to drive innovation, thus improving the job prospects of its citizens.
“Ireland’s very open economy depends on unfettered access to markets for its output of goods and services,” the statement added.
“In addition, the European higher education area offers students in Ireland and elsewhere tremendous mobility and development opportunities,” the statement continued.
“The Lisbon Treaty is a milestone on a journey begun 50 years ago after the ruin of war in Europe.”
Mr Cowen said in Galway yesterday that Ireland’s future is in “working with others to overcome problems that we can’t solve alone”.
“For young people, this is about trying to secure our economic future,” he said.
Earlier yesterday, Mr Cowen said that anti-Lisbon protesters who jeered him at the National Ploughing Championships on Thursday were entitled to express their opinions, but he did not wish to defend people who behaved in an “uncivil” way.
Speaking on Midlands Radio, the Taoiseach said: “The headline is the few people who decided to organise some sort of an agitation against me, now they are entitled to do that by the way, I don’t have a problem with that.”
However, Mr Cowen said questions about the protest would be better directed at those involved. “I am not here to seek to defend people who act in an uncivil way. In a democracy people can put their point of view, put it calmly and deliberately, I have no problem with that, so if you can identify the people who made the comments and you want to put it to them, put it to them,” he said.