Tempers flare at first Lisbon 'think-in'
THE NEW Oireachtas sub- committee on Lisbon was set up in a bid to reconcile the 'Yes' and 'No' sides following the fallout from the referendum.
But instead it began with yet another row as it attempted to get down to business yesterday.
The cross-party committee is due to meet 24 times over the next eight weeks in a frantic effort to establish 'Ireland's future in Europe' before Taoiseach Brian Cowen travels to Brussels for a crucial EU summit in December. At its opening session yesterday, Senator Pascal Donohoe pleaded with members to "look to the future" and not "bore" people with the same old arguments about the treaty.
But he was then attacked by the sole Sinn Fein member, Senator Pearse Doherty, who complained that the committee could be used to make the case for a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
"My party will fight you tooth and nail should you cynically look to manipulate the committee against the democratic will of the people," he said.
But Mr Donohoe rejected the charge that the committee's terms of reference were "deeply dishonest". "I said I would bend over backwards to be impartial and to accommodate every voice," he said.
Opposed
The 12-member sub-committee includes 10 TDs and senators who backed the Lisbon Treaty and just two -- Mr Doherty and independent senator Ronan Mullen -- who opposed it. It is tasked with providing a report to the Government on how to deal with the aftermath of the Lisbon Treaty defeat, how to improve public knowledge of the EU and how to improve the role of the Dail and Seanad in EU affairs.
Green Party senator Deirdre de Burca said the committee should not be seen as way to run a second Lisbon Treaty referendum, while Labour TD Joe Costello also said it should not be seen as a "bail out" for the Government. "It is not our intention that we should provide a solution to the Government's dilemma."
- Michael Brennan Political Correspondent
