20 December 2002 Edition
Democracy ditched in Leaken and Leinster House
By Micheál MacDonncha
In Leinster House, the government forged ahead with its plan to put the Nice Treaty to a second referendum, hoping the people will 'get it right' next time
While Bertie Ahern attended the EU Summit in Laeken last Friday, his colleagues at home were pushing a Bill through the Oireachtas to effectively abolish the Referendum Commission, which took much of the blame from the Establishment for their humiliation in the Nice referendum. It was an entirely appropriate co-incidence, as Irish democracy was undermined in Laeken and Leinster House.
The EU Summit meeting of heads of government saw agreement in principle on the deployment of EU military forces in Afghanistan. Bertie Ahern did not dissent from this, despite his statement that it was unlikely that an Irish contingent would be included. The Summit reaffirmed EU 'common defence' policy and the commitment to develop a 60,000-strong Rapid Reaction Force. It also agreed to set up a Convention to draw up what, in effect, would be an EU Constitution with such items as tax harmonization across the EU high on the agenda.
In Leinster House, the government forged ahead with its plan to put the Nice Treaty to a second referendum, hoping the people will 'get it right' next time. When questioned by Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caolain in the Dáil, Bertie Ahern again claimed the ratification of Nice was necessary for enlargement of the EU. He did not indicate when a second poll would be held, but there is no doubt that is the government's intention.
The government and the Labour Party supported a Fine Gael motion that called on the government to 'ensure that Ireland does not impede or delay the accession of applicant states to the European Union'. Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin put down an amendment which called on the government to "to implement the referendum decision of the people and to formally request the Member States of the European Union not to proceed with ratification of the Treaty of Nice, recognising that no EU Treaty can come into effect without the approval of all Member States". The amendment also called on the Government to "seek the negotiation of a new Treaty, which will allow for enlargement and provide for the future of the EU as a partnership of equal states, regardless of population size, with full recognition of the sovereignty of each Member State and, in particular, the military neutrality of the Irish State; urges the Government to legislate for a referendum to amend the Constitution to include an explicit assertion of military neutrality."
Neither Government nor Opposition accorded time to the Sinn Féin TD to speak on his amendment, which was supported by the Greens, Séamus Healy and Joe Higgins.
The next phase in the government's plan for Nice 2 (The Empire Strikes Back) was forced through the Dáil two days later, on the final day before the Christmas recess. The Referendum Bill effectively abolishes the Referendum Commission and was described in the Dáil on Friday as a "disgrace" by Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin. He told the Dáil:
"This Referendum Bill is a gross abuse of power by the government. It is the rule of the bully - if your opponent defeats you fair and square and by the rules, then change the rules. The government parties, along with Fine Gael and Labour, were defeated in the Nice Treaty referendum. Rather than accept and act upon the decision of the electorate the government has tried to explain away that decision and has found a scapegoat in the Referendum Commission.
"Let us recall the reason the Referendum Commission was established. We had a situation where the government could use public money to promote one side in a referendum campaign. It could buy all the advertising and publicity it needed without spending a penny of its own party political funds. The Supreme Court judgement in the case taken by Patricia McKenna found that practice unconstitutional. The Referendum Commission was established and given the task of presenting the arguments on both sides in referendums.
"It is very important to point out that nothing in the legislation establishing the Referendum Commission prevents political parties spending their own money on campaigns. To listen to some commentators, you would think that only the Commission could argue the Yes and No cases. The reality, of course, is that in the Nice referendum campaign the parties on the Yes side could not motivate and mobilise their own activists and supporters. They lost the campaign, they lost the argument and they lost the referendum. Then they played the blame game and the losers again are the people whose access to full and comprehensive information is being curtailed by this emasculation of the Referendum Commission.
"But of course this Bill has nothing to do with the actual operation of the Referendum Commission. This is all about circumventing the McKenna judgement and fixing the outcome of the next referendum on Nice. All of the major parties will be united in support of a Yes vote and will have access to increased State funding to fight their campaigns as a result of other legislation this year.
"If the outcome of Nice Mark 1 had been different, this shameful Bill would never have seen the light of day. But you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. Clearly the electorate trusted the impartial Referendum Commission more than they trusted the unholy alliance on the Yes side. Now they see the government effectively abolishing the Referendum Commission. I believe the people will make their judgement."
In Leinster House, the government forged ahead with its plan to put the Nice Treaty to a second referendum, hoping the people will 'get it right' next time
While Bertie Ahern attended the EU Summit in Laeken last Friday, his colleagues at home were pushing a Bill through the Oireachtas to effectively abolish the Referendum Commission, which took much of the blame from the Establishment for their humiliation in the Nice referendum. It was an entirely appropriate co-incidence, as Irish democracy was undermined in Laeken and Leinster House.
The EU Summit meeting of heads of government saw agreement in principle on the deployment of EU military forces in Afghanistan. Bertie Ahern did not dissent from this, despite his statement that it was unlikely that an Irish contingent would be included. The Summit reaffirmed EU 'common defence' policy and the commitment to develop a 60,000-strong Rapid Reaction Force. It also agreed to set up a Convention to draw up what, in effect, would be an EU Constitution with such items as tax harmonization across the EU high on the agenda.
In Leinster House, the government forged ahead with its plan to put the Nice Treaty to a second referendum, hoping the people will 'get it right' next time. When questioned by Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caolain in the Dáil, Bertie Ahern again claimed the ratification of Nice was necessary for enlargement of the EU. He did not indicate when a second poll would be held, but there is no doubt that is the government's intention.
The government and the Labour Party supported a Fine Gael motion that called on the government to 'ensure that Ireland does not impede or delay the accession of applicant states to the European Union'. Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin put down an amendment which called on the government to "to implement the referendum decision of the people and to formally request the Member States of the European Union not to proceed with ratification of the Treaty of Nice, recognising that no EU Treaty can come into effect without the approval of all Member States". The amendment also called on the Government to "seek the negotiation of a new Treaty, which will allow for enlargement and provide for the future of the EU as a partnership of equal states, regardless of population size, with full recognition of the sovereignty of each Member State and, in particular, the military neutrality of the Irish State; urges the Government to legislate for a referendum to amend the Constitution to include an explicit assertion of military neutrality."
Neither Government nor Opposition accorded time to the Sinn Féin TD to speak on his amendment, which was supported by the Greens, Séamus Healy and Joe Higgins.
The next phase in the government's plan for Nice 2 (The Empire Strikes Back) was forced through the Dáil two days later, on the final day before the Christmas recess. The Referendum Bill effectively abolishes the Referendum Commission and was described in the Dáil on Friday as a "disgrace" by Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin. He told the Dáil:
"This Referendum Bill is a gross abuse of power by the government. It is the rule of the bully - if your opponent defeats you fair and square and by the rules, then change the rules. The government parties, along with Fine Gael and Labour, were defeated in the Nice Treaty referendum. Rather than accept and act upon the decision of the electorate the government has tried to explain away that decision and has found a scapegoat in the Referendum Commission.
"Let us recall the reason the Referendum Commission was established. We had a situation where the government could use public money to promote one side in a referendum campaign. It could buy all the advertising and publicity it needed without spending a penny of its own party political funds. The Supreme Court judgement in the case taken by Patricia McKenna found that practice unconstitutional. The Referendum Commission was established and given the task of presenting the arguments on both sides in referendums.
"It is very important to point out that nothing in the legislation establishing the Referendum Commission prevents political parties spending their own money on campaigns. To listen to some commentators, you would think that only the Commission could argue the Yes and No cases. The reality, of course, is that in the Nice referendum campaign the parties on the Yes side could not motivate and mobilise their own activists and supporters. They lost the campaign, they lost the argument and they lost the referendum. Then they played the blame game and the losers again are the people whose access to full and comprehensive information is being curtailed by this emasculation of the Referendum Commission.
"But of course this Bill has nothing to do with the actual operation of the Referendum Commission. This is all about circumventing the McKenna judgement and fixing the outcome of the next referendum on Nice. All of the major parties will be united in support of a Yes vote and will have access to increased State funding to fight their campaigns as a result of other legislation this year.
"If the outcome of Nice Mark 1 had been different, this shameful Bill would never have seen the light of day. But you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. Clearly the electorate trusted the impartial Referendum Commission more than they trusted the unholy alliance on the Yes side. Now they see the government effectively abolishing the Referendum Commission. I believe the people will make their judgement."