Friday

29th Mar 2024

Irish expats fail to donate money for Lisbon

  • Saving the Lisbon treaty can be considered like any other international campaign, Mr Bates said (Photo: Andrew Willis)

A group of Irish citizens living in Brussels has failed to attract any large donations for the Yes campaign on the Lisbon Treaty from fellow expats across Europe.

The initiative, called Europe for Ireland, was launched at the start of September to raise money for pro-Yes advertising in Ireland ahead of the 2 October vote.

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But with fewer than 10 days to go to referendum day, the project has so far managed to collect under €20,000.

The fund is enough for the group to run a three man office in the EU capital and to encourage its contacts, their families and friends to vote Yes. But it is not enough to buy TV time or print space in Ireland.

"We spread the word by email among Irish clubs in Europe, but I suppose people wondered if this is the best way to spend their money," Europe for Ireland spokesman Jim Murray told EUobserver.

"There was clearly a lot of money spent on the No side. We said, let's see if we can get some money on the Yes side. We didn't," he added. "I predict a lot of people will try do something on 3 October. That's human nature. It's not just an Irish trait."

The Irish diaspora, in terms of people claiming Irish descent, numbers into the tens of millions in Europe and beyond. But just 413,000 Irish passport holders reside in the EU outside of Ireland, according to the European Commission.

The financial shortfall comes despite a push by Eamonn Bates, the Irish-origin director of the Eamonn Bates public relations firm in Brussels, to try and raise €500,000 for the project by asking business contacts for €30,000 each.

Mr Bates personally donated €5,000.

Mr Murray and Mr Bates defended their right to get involved in the Lisbon referendum, after coming in for criticism from some quarters, such as UK-based lobbyist Chris Whitehouse, for trying to "interfere" in the Irish vote.

"We're all Irish citizens, Irish people living abroad. We can't vote in Ireland but we're patriotic men and women and we have much more right to get involved and, if we could, to send a leaflet to every Irish household, than Ukip have," Mr Murray said, referring to a recent leaflet campaign by the British eurosceptic faction, the UK Independence Party.

"People make contributions for all sorts of causes abroad, whether it is to stop the trade in seal products or for climate change initiatives. Why should this be any different?" Mr Bates said.

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