Left wing website launched for a No Vote

national | eu | news report

Tuesday January 15, 2008 16:28

by Voteno.ie

A new website - www.VoteNo.ie - has been launched to garner a No vote to the Lisbon Treaty.

The website will make left wing arguments against the treaty and hope to mobilise the type of reaction which led to the rejection of the EU Constitution in France,
The editors of the site are:
Kieran Allen: A senior lecturer in the School of Sociology in UCD who has written a number of books. His most recent is The Corporate Takeover of Ireland.
Sinead Kennedy: is a long standing campaigner against war and for womens' rights. She is writer on the culture and politics of modern Ireland.
In a statement, one of the editors Kieran Allen said,
'The website brings a new dimension to the debate on Europe. For many years, many people have become concerned about how privatisation and neo-liberalism have been imposed on us through EU directives. The postal service is due to be broken up, for example, from 2009 and we have already seen how an EU water framework directive has led to charges on schools. The national airline Aer Lingus was also sold off because of an EU directive.
'The Lisbon Treaty gives the neo-liberal outlook a near constitutional status. It effectively bans state aid to public services -except in the most restrictive conditions. It is extremely ambiguous on the issue of public services generally and suggests that they may be open to challenge on the grounds of 'open competition'. It gives new powers to the EU Commission to negotiate agreements at the World Trade Organisation which will dramatically affect our lives.
It would be a tragedy if these concerns which featured so prominently only in the French referendum did not surface in Ireland.
The www. VoteNo.ie website gives voice to these issues and gives a clear left wing argument for rejecting the Treaty.
Our website will also highlight the issue of war and the lack of democracy in Europe. The Lisbon Treaty gives a legal base to the concept of battle groups and requires member states to progressively increase their spending on arms. At a time when we should be turning swords into ploughshares after the end of the Cold War,this is a retrogressive step."
VoteNo.ie will provide a regular commentary on the arguments and provide well researched resources to support a No argument.
Visit www.voteno.ie
Text CAMPAIGN to 087-6347648 to get active in the campaign