15 March 2001 Edition
SF rejects Nice Treaty
Addressing the Taoiseach during Questions in the Dáil on 7 March, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD stated Sinn Féin's opposition to the Treaty of Nice. He asked the Taoiseach when a referendum would be held and if other issues would be voted on at the same time. The Taoiseach replied that the government had not made a final decision on whether a referendum on Nice was necessary.
Ó Caoláin put to the Taoiseach the remarks of EU Commission President Romano Prodi who asked in the European Parliament on 13 February, `Are we all clear that what we want to build is something that can aspire to be a world power?' The Sinn Féin TD said that his party's answer was a definite `No' and asked Bertie Ahern for his view. However the Taoiseach did not answer the question and Ó Caoláin commented that his silence ``seems to indicate that, at the very least, the Taoiseach does not disapprove of the idea of the EU as a new superpower''.
Ó Caoláin put to the Taoiseach the remarks of EU Commission President Romano Prodi who asked in the European Parliament on 13 February, `Are we all clear that what we want to build is something that can aspire to be a world power?' The Sinn Féin TD said that his party's answer was a definite `No' and asked Bertie Ahern for his view. However the Taoiseach did not answer the question and Ó Caoláin commented that his silence ``seems to indicate that, at the very least, the Taoiseach does not disapprove of the idea of the EU as a new superpower''.