Lisbon Treaty

Next month Ireland will be voting on the Lisbon Treaty, sometimes referred to as the Reform Treaty.

On a number of occasions I have sat down to read material on the Treaty and I have also glanced at newspaper articles on the issue.

Through my job as a press officer with Concern I have attended meetings, which discussed the Treaty.

But not for a moment would I say that I am in anyway well informed about the Treaty.

So, have I got my mind made up as to what way I am going to vote? Yes, I think I have.

Some people may be familiar with the Alive! newspaper. It is a right wing newspaper, which is edited by Fr Brian McKevitt. Brian is an Irish Dominican based in Tallaght, but the newspaper is not a publication of the Dominican Order.

Over the last few months it has run a virulent campaign against the Lisbon Treaty – it is forever opposing the EU and the institutions of the Union.

On the back page of the April edition it ran a half page advert, asking people to vote no and suggesting that if you vote no you would be voting for ‘God’.

The advertisement was signed by a priest, whom I believe is, based in Wexford.

It is an appalling ad. I had my mind made up well before reading that ad but having seen it I was convinced as never before that I would be voting yes in June.

I certainly would not want in any way whatsoever to be associated with the ad or the Alive! newspaper.The ad is really close to blasphemy and that the Irish bishops have not come out and objected to it baffles me.

When Dublin Labour TD Joe Costello complained about Alive! being available in Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral he was told by a spokeswoman for the archdiocese that, “None of these publications while they use the church premises, necessarily represents the views of the priest of the parish, the diocese or the archbishop."

The spokeswoman went on to say that “several Catholic inspired publications are available in churches throughout the diocese and contain their own independent views on a variety of issues.

“Their distribution is at the discretion of the individual parishes and priests have been alerted to the necessity of being vigilant during a political campaign.”

That priests have been alerted is good to hear. But the question must be asked if Alive! were a left leaning newspaper how long would it last inside the door of any church?

Then there have been a number of scaremongering letters in the newspapers warning us that if we vote yes we will be obliged to introduce abortion.

Of course there is no link between the Lisbon Treaty and abortion legislation.

I belong to the first generation of Europeans in a long time, who have not had to go to war to fight for Kaiser or King.

People older than I all across Europe know all about the blood that has been spilt as far as the Volga in obscene wars.

The European Economic Community (EEC) or Common Market as it was originally called was set up primarily to make sure that we would never again tolerate war in Europe.

And it has succeeded not only in keeping us from killing one another but instead it is a great vehicle for bringing us closer together.

Just take the degree of participation and exchange that exists among third level students. Most students spend one or two semesters studying in another EU State. Erasmus scholarships mean that our young people get great opportunities in seeing for themselves what life is like in another EU State.

Surely the priming pump of the Celtic Tiger has been the European Union. Back in the early days of the then Region Technical Colleges (RTCs), now Institutes of Technology, for every Irish Pound the Irish Government invested in them, Europe matched it with another Irish Pound.

Of course it is not a perfect institution, it constantly needs reform, but Europe offers us amazing and extraordinary challenges.

And the idea that any organisation should have the temerity to tell me that by voting yes I am going against the wishes of God is really, in my believe, fraudulent.

I for one would much prefer to part of an open and stimulating Europe than the bigotry and fear that is portrayed in publications such as Alive!