Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

Like many other Deputies I express my disappointment. In accepting the will of the people it must be said that those of us on the "Yes" side felt passionately the treaty offered Ireland an excellent deal while also allowing the European Union to make progress and be better structured to confront the great challenges facing the Continent. These include global terrorism, global warming, poverty and the current food crisis which engulfs the globe. The tragedy of the situation was that a mixture of the failings of the "Yes" side and the absence of scruples on the "No" side resulted in many of our citizens feeling unsure about what they were voting for.

It must be acknowledged that the treaty itself was somewhat mundane. It did not have the spark of controversy that the divorce referendum had, for example. It had no single exciting issue that could be used as a selling point. We all know, of course, that politics is rarely exciting and is often just a mundane hard slog. The "Yes" side canvassed openly for the treaty, admitted that we would have to make some sacrifices but pointed out that all member states of the EU were making similar sacrifices, some far more than others. Comparatively speaking we were doing very well. What we were confronting on the "No" side was quite shocking. The sheer scale of the lies peddled by some of those who opposed the treaty was mindboggling. There were threats that the EU wanted to microchip babies, that it wished to force Ireland to legislate for abortion, that it wanted to conscript young people into a European army, that the EU wanted to raise our taxes and threaten our democracy. Those claims were so ludicrous that it was difficult for those on the "Yes" side to know how to deal with them.

Arising from that I object to the Taoiseach's decision to engage with the myriad of "No" campaigners about what kind of shopping list he should now bring to Brussels. We already had the shopping list and had secured everything on it. The defeat of the treaty should be not seen as a plebiscite that bestows an electoral mandate on the "No" campaigners. I urge the Taoiseach not to engage with people on the "No" side. We do not know which element of that side actually won because it is clear no particular group on the "No" side won the referendum. It is laughable that the people who accused the EU of lacking proper democratic structures should fashion themselves as the voice of the people.

The truth is that Ireland lost last Thursday. I hope something can be salvaged from the wreckage so we can have an honest and informed analysis of our attitude to and relationship with the EU and other European countries and decide then whether our hearts really lie with Boston rather than Berlin.

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