Irish opposition leader demands date be set for treaty referendum
The Lisbon Treaty faces its sole electoral test in Ireland, but the date for the referendum has yet to be set (Photo: EUobserver.com)
LEIGH PHILLIPS
25.01.2008 @ 09:28 CET
Irish opposition leader Enda Kenny has called on Prime Minister Bertie Ahern to set a date for the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
Uncertainty over a date was allowing "anti-European groups" to fill the vacuum, Mr Kenny, leader of the centrist Fine Gael party, said during a visit to Brussels on Thursday (24 January).
"The efforts of the many groups who support the treaty are being seriously hampered by the continuing uncertainty as to the timing of the referendum vote," he said.
"It has created a vacuum in which some anti-European groups have put forward misinformation about the implications of the treaty," Mr Kenny said, according to the Irish Times.
Mr Kenny is in the European capital to meet with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel.
As vice-president of the European People's Party,(EPP), he is also to meet with EPP president Wilfried Martens and the EPP group's treaty monitoring committee to brief them on Fine Gael's campaign plans for the upcoming treaty referendum.
Member state governments have all so far refused to hold referenda on the new reform treaty, lest it be rejected as its predecessor, the Constitutional Treaty, was in referenda held in France and Germany in 2005.
As Dublin is legally required to hold a referendum, all eyes are on Ireland at the moment, where opinion polls show most people leaning towards a 'No' vote, or abstention.
Last week at a specially convened conference, the Irish Green Party, in coalition with the governing Fianna Fail party of Prime Minister Ahern, failed to approve a motion supporting the 'Yes' side. Members of the Greens – whose leadership supports the treaty – are now free to campaign on either side of the issue.
The referendum in Ireland is expected to be called for some time this summer, although no specific date has yet been set.
The Irish Supreme Court ruled in 1987 that any major change to EU treaties required an amendment to the Irish constitution. As any amendments to the Irish constitution require referenda, the ruling mandated that any new EU treaty also requires a referendum.
After meeting with Mr Barroso, the Fine Gael leader was also asked his opinion of the possibility of Prime Minister Ahern being considered for the new high-level European positions created by the Lisbon Treaty.
Bertie Ahern was "not fit for office at home, never mind abroad," Mr Kenny replied.