The Forum on Europe

Michael O'Kennedy took time at the Forum on Europe on Thursday, 25 October, to launch an attack on Sinn Féin's Aengus Ó Snodaigh for addressing the Forum in Irish. Ó Snodaigh addressed the Forum in Irish and in English. Michael O'Kennedy rounded on him at lunchtime saying that he had insulted the guest speaker and the audience. When Aengus next spoke, he said that no insult was intended, but that he had a right to address the forum in his native tongue and the official language of the state, and that the only insult was to himself, that the simultaneous translation was not in place. He said that Fianna Fáil would not prevent him from addressing any forum in Irish as was his right. O'Kennedy responded (despite the chair Senator Maurice Hayes saying in Irish that the system would be in place next session) claiming that Ó Snodaigh showed "gross discourtesy" to the participants for speaking as Gaeilge.

The Forum for Europe's second session in Dublin Castle heard former European correspondent for the Guardian John Palmer and now director of the European Policy Institute give an overview of where he believed the enlargement process of the EU was at.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh, responding, reiterated Sinn Féin's view that the current project was aimed not at enriching the whole of Europe, but at creating a centralised superpower based around four or five states. While he agreed with Palmer's view that the energies and interests of the applicant countries could flourish in a new Europe, he believed the opposite would be the case under the planned Europe of Romano Prodi et al. The Sinn Féin rep welcomed the debate which the Forum on Europe has started, but he said "there is a need for a debate, but not a debate with a predetermined outcome - the Nice Treaty".

Later in the afternoon Ó Snodaigh addressed the issue of enlargement. "Sinn Féin is not opposed to enlargement, but to further centralising of the EU, placing greater power in the hands of the larger states and allowing them to create a two-tier EU - something which would see applicant countries entering the EU as second-class citizens." he said. "We want applicant countries to join the EU on the same basis as we joined. We want them to enjoy the same benefits as Ireland enjoyed, yet we don't want them to suffer the costs which we suffered."

The situation regarding Aer Lingus showed the need to end the EU's absolute opposition to state-led enterprises so that state owned companies can respond to economic shocks by seeking investment from their shareholders, he said. This should be especially so, given the transitional state of the economies in many of the applicant countries.

The next session of the National Forum on Europe will on November 8 dealing with "Enlargement from the perspective of some candidate countries", November 19 on "perspectives on enlargement from the Special Observer Pillar", November 22 on "enlargement, trade and investment", November 29 "enlargement considered from environmental and social perspective. Sessions are open to the public and submissions are invited from groups or individuals regarding any issue relating to the EU, enlargement and our future in Europe. Several sessions of the Forum are to be held outside of Dublin, with mini-Forums in smaller towns.