The EU’s Fiscal Compact Treaty, or Austerity Treaty, will be “of severe detriment to the Irish people” and the public must oppose it and vote no.
This is the view of Sinn Féin senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh who also said the public must get involved in the campaign and ensure that turnout is high and the result definitive.
Sen Ó Clochartaigh believes there is “nothing contained” within the text of the EU treaty that will “help the plight of so many who face social and economic poverty, unemployment and emigration”.
He pointed out that “no section” of the treaty seeks “to inject life” into the State’s public services. “The rationale and objective of this treaty is to further embed the debt burden into Irish law the make it increasingly difficult to restructure our unsustainable debt level,” he said.
Sinn Féin will hold a series of public meetings concerning the treaty across the city and county in the coming weeks while information on it will be available from the party’s city office.
While An Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said there will be no re-run of the referendum if it is defeated, Sen Ó Clochartaigh said the public have a right to be suspicious of any such claim. He believes the only way that a second referendum can be prevented is through a high voter turn out and the delivery of a resounding no vote.
“We must ensure that if rejected, the Government accepts the will of the people and resists temptation to, like their predecessors, run at it again,” said Sen Ó Clochartaigh.
“The only sure way to avoid such a scenario is to have resounding opposition to the treaty. From this perspective, I am appealing to the people of Galway to not only vote no, but also involve themselves in the upcoming campaign
