Claims by the No campaign that Irish neutrality would be compromised by a Yes are “groundless”, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore claimed today.
“Every single development in the history of the European Union since 1973 has been depicted by some group or another in the most alarmist terms as a threat to Irish neutrality and they are at it again now in relation to the Lisbon Treaty,” Mr Gilmore said.
“Not only do the provisions of the Lisbon Reform Treaty not pose any threat to Irish neutrality, but I believe that they will actually enable Ireland to play an enhanced role in the world,” he said.
Mr Gilmore said parties on the No side, in particular Sinn Féin, were expounding false claims on the neutrality which had proved baseless in the past and would do so again.
Nevertheless, he acknowledged that opinion polls indicated a substantial number of people were concerned about Irish neutrality.
The Yes side needed to reassure these people, he said
“It is important to stress that the key decisions on CFSP and Security and Defence matters will continue to be taken by unanimity, while Ireland’s status of military neutrality is specifically protected and our domestic ‘triple lock’ guarantee is fully maintained,” Mr Gilmore said.
A coalition of anti-war groups on Friday accused the Referendum Commission of being "utterly biased" in suggesting Ireland's neutrality would be unaffected by the Lisbon Treaty.
Several organisations campaigning for a No vote claimed the commission was deliberately playing down elements of the treaty which dealt with the creation of a common defence policy and the inherent threat these posed to Irish neutrality.
Irish Anti-War Movement chairman Richard Boyd Barrett said it was "patently nonsense, even from a cursory reading of the text" to suggest Irish neutrality would be unaffected.
Mr Boyd Barrett said Article 28 of the treaty clearly set out the agenda for a more militarised European Union and created the legal basis for a European army.
Meanwhile the Minister for Europe Dick Roche today warned that a no vote would throw the EU into a fresh crisis.
He told Sky News' Sunday Liveprogramme: "This treaty has to be ratified before the end of the year. There is no doubt whatsoever that if there is a no vote here, or if there is a rejection of the treaty in any other member state, Europe will be put into a further period of crisis and introspection.
“And the people who will suffer most from that are the people in Ireland, because we gain out of Europe being efficient,” he said.