MICHEÁL MARTIN HAS called on those advocating a Yes vote in the upcoming referendum not to allow the campaign to descend into two sides trading insults.
If this happens, the fiscal compact will not pass, he warned today at the launch of Fianna Fáil’s Yes campaign.
All too often referendum debates are allowed to descend into a sterile debate of charge and counter-charge. A critical mistake of pro-EU parties is to allow rebuttals to dominate their own efforts. The Treaty will not pass if all the people hear is two sides exchanging attacks.
The party leader also said the vote has “nothing whatsover to do with daily politics”. He told the electorate: “It’s about the future of our country not about support for any party.”
The launch set out Fianna Fáil’s intention to run a positive campaign in support of ratifying the treaty.
“The Stability Treaty is not the answer to all of Ireland’s problems, but it is an important part of the answer. It is a reasonable response to what is now almost a Europe-wide crisis for states seeking money to fund public services,” said Martin during his speech.
Setting out the two key reasons for voting Yes, he said ratifying the treaty will ensure access to the cheapest and most secure funding , as well as help rebuild confidence and restore growth.
Concluding his speech, Martin moved to distance Fianna Fáil from the Government on all other economic policies.
We are on the same side of this referendum but nothing in this is in any way an endorsement of the government policies.
He said that Fine Gael and Labour are making “many serious mistakes”, such as the “deeply unfair” decisions taken in the past two budgets which hurt employment and were implemented incompetently.
Sinn Féin representatives Pearse Doherty, Mary Lou McDonald and Peadar Tóibín will hold a press conference later today to outline their party’s arguments for a No vote. They say they will reveal the consequences and cost of a Yes vote over the course of their campaign.
Meanwhile, the Referendum Commission has started its public information campaign on the treaty. Chairperson Judge Kevin Feeney said the group would publish and advertise “clear, factual information” over the next four weeks.
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