The Yes campaign is not being straight with the Irish people when it comes to the Lisbon Treaty and should be willing to listen to the concerns of those who oppose it, a Young Fine Gael debate on the subject heard last night.
However, a well-attended meeting in Dublin also heard supporters of the treaty strongly reject claims that the Yes campaign was misleading the Irish people. Instead they emphasised what they believed to be the many positive aspects to the treaty.
In his speech outlining his concerns about the issue, Finian McGrath TD called for an end to the "abusive name-calling" from elements of the Yes campaign, through the use of phrases like "shadowy backgrounds" and "far-right" and "far-left" to describe those opposing it. "People are asking me, what is this all about. Is this your European model for respecting other people's views?" he asked. "You claim to be liberal, yet before we open our mouths you start the negative Yes campaign.
"From what I can see, 90 per cent of our politicians support Yes; 90 per cent of our media are on the Yes side and people have the brass neck to say that we are getting fair and balanced coverage in the Dáil and in the media."
Among the issues of concern, he said, were the lack of any real difference between the original proposed EU constitution and the present treaty and the binding nature of EU laws in 60 more policy areas.
Arguing in support of the treaty, former Fine Gael leader and ex-director of the Institute of European Affairs Alan Dukes said it set out to make EU decision-making more efficient and responsive to the needs of member states and their citizens.
Responding to the charge that the Irish people were being misled, Mr Dukes said he "utterly rejected" this. In his address, Mr Dukes said the treaty was about adapting the decision-making capacity of the EU and making its institutions "fit for purpose".
The EU had always proven that it was adaptable and had gone through successive modifications during its development over the years, he added.
Mr Dukes was supported by Fine Gael's spokeswoman on Europe, Lucinda Creighton TD, who said the treaty aimed to address the so-called democratic deficit in the EU and would also allow it to address the many challenges which the world faces.
However, journalist David Quinn expressed concern about the impact of the charter of fundamental rights and the resulting "competence creep". Many people felt "we are on a train journey but don't know where the final destination is", he added.