There is no room for confidence or complacency about the result in Thursday’s referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, the founder of anti-treaty group Libertas has said.
As the Yes and No campaigns enter the final days of campaigning ahead of the poll, Declan Ganley said his group was “not taking any single voter for granted.”
“We just want to talk about what’s in this treaty, make sure people have information. We’ll know in a few days from now what Irish people say and that’s the voice that matters here,” he said at a press conference in Dublin.
He repeated Libertas’s claims that a better deal is possible if the treaty is rejected. “This is just a great opportunity that Ireland has been given. It’s an historic opportunity, unprecedented, to really be responsible Europeans and send the right message to Brussels, send them back to the drawing board so that they can up with a deal that’s good for us, better for us. We can’t get a worse deal than the one we’re being offered right now.”
Making some final swipes at the Yes camp, Mr Ganley accused them of talking “about everything and anything except what it is in this treaty” during the campaign.
In response to questions about Libertas’ funding, the Tuam-based businessman said: “There are limitations to what I can personally donate. I donated just under €6,500 on a personal basis.
“We didn’t make the rules. We are following the rules that the major political parties have agreed amongst themselves. We are fully compliant with them, we’ll continue to do so and we’ll make the full disclosures as and when we are required to make them.”