From Unity, 29 August 2009

Support the No campaign in whatever way you can

The campaign against the Lisbon Treaty will take on new forms of action as the establishment gets off its backside to try to dupe the people of Ireland into voting Yes. The Sunday Tribune last week carried an article with headlines “Late swing to No vote on Lisbon worries main parties.” Research carried out by the Yes campaign “shows majority of voters back treaty but are open to persuasion.” The article stated: “There is a very substantial Yes vote and there is a less substantial No vote, but when you drill into those figures, the No vote is much more solid and less prepared to be turned.”
     They are not leaving anything to chance this time. The heart of the article is revealed a few lines on, with the words “There is concern among some elements of the Yes campaign that complacency has started to creep in as to the outcome of the referendum on 2 October.” Looking at the Tribune web site, there are to date eleven comments on the article, most of them being in favour of the No vote. One in particular puts it succinctly: “First they endorsed it when they hadn’t read the thing, now they’re fully behind it. Why would you trust any government that recommends policy without even reading policy documents? Is the EU working for the people or are the governments just securing their ‘retirement’ on the political gravy train?”
     In the meantime, big business pulls out all stops to support the establishment. Electronics Weekly reported: “Intel has told its Irish employees to vote for the Lisbon Treaty which strengthens the centralising power of the EC when the Treaty comes up for its second Irish vote in October.” Jim O’Hara, general manager of Intel Ireland, said: “This time, Intel Corporation’s management is supporting our Irish management team as we make our views clear that it is important for the country, and for multinational companies within the country, that Ireland remains a player at the heart of Europe. In addition to being a matter of corporate social responsibility, it’s also a matter of my strong personal conviction.”
     A statement from the Communist Party of Ireland pointed out: “Intel’s announcement that it may spend up to €200,000 in promoting a Yes vote—possibly more than the combined total being spent by the various No campaigns—should send a clear message to all workers. That is, big corporations, those that deny workers the right to join a trade union, are the driving force behind the Lisbon Treaty, both here in Ireland and throughout the European Union.”
     The People’s Movement has started the campaign against the Lisbon Treaty, organising public meetings the length and breadth of Ireland. Sinn Féin has also set out to run “a general election style campaign,” Sinn Féin’s EU affairs spokesperson, Aenghus Ó Snodaigh, said. “The Lisbon Treaty was drafted by right-wing politicians who helped fuel the recession and was riddled with the same economic politics . . . It remains a bad deal for Ireland.” And, we might add, for the rest of the workers in Europe.

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