Fianna Fáil rejects Higgins invite to public debate

NO CAMPAIGNERS:THE SOCIALIST Party MEP Joe Higgins and other members of 14 left-wing and anti-militarisation organisations have written to Taoiseach Brian Cowen seeking a "full public debate in the Mansion House" to discuss the "actual content and implications" of the treaty and "associated documents".

But a Fianna Fáil spokesman has dismissed the invitation, saying: “the No side are clearly looking for gimmicks because these challenges are now issuing at a rate of a dozen a day”.

The letter from the Say No to Lisbon group said the Government had “axed the only body capable of organising a balanced debate on the Lisbon Treaty – the National Forum on Europe”.

Mr Higgins said campaigners were “frustrated” by Lisbon Treaty supporters’ failure to “engage on the texts”. But the Fianna Fáil spokesman said: “There are more than enough debates scheduled until the end of the campaign, and there is no need to schedule extra ones for the benefit of individual groups.”

At a press conference on workers’ rights, Mr Higgins rejected “very exaggerated claims” that the charter of fundamental rights would automatically mean a significant improvement in workers’ rights if Lisbon was ratified.

Frank Keoghan of the People’s Movement said the scope for the implementation of collective agreements “will certainly be narrowed very much”. He added: “we need law that will assert the rights of workers over the market”.