FORMER president of the European Parliament Pat Cox has accused Sinn Féin of trying to drag the people of Ireland backwards into the Eurosceptic slipstream of the British Tories.
Sinn Féin formally decided yesterday to again campaign for a No vote in the second Lisbon Treaty referendum in the autumn.
Mr Cox, who is the campaign director of “Ireland for Europe”, which advocates a Yes vote in the referendum, said Sinn Féin was trying to line Ireland up with forces hostile to the EU, like the British Tory Party and UKIP, the United Kingdom Independence Party, whose MEPs wore leprechaun hats in the European Parliament in support of the No vote.
“While Sinn Féin struggled with their identity crisis in Navan, we in ‘Ireland for Europe’ are convinced that Ireland’s identity thrives within Europe and that the EU continues to provide the framework for Ireland’s recovery and success,” he said.
Announcing the party’s decision after its special ardchomhairle meeting in the Ardboyne Hotel in Navan, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said Lisbon was a “bad treaty” when it was presented last year.
“The people said no. Exactly the same treaty is being presented once again and we will be formally launching our campaign later this week,” he said.
Party vice-president Mary Lou McDonald said Sinn Féin would be mounting a strong campaign against Lisbon, notwithstanding that there was an expectation that this time and in the context of the economic recession it would be carried.
“It was a tough fight last time round. The Government and the Yes campaign will rather opportunistically choose to use the economic chaos that we have as rationale for passing for what is a bad treaty for Ireland,” Ms McDonald said.