Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am a big fan of Europe. What I love about it is its variety. However, I am no fan of the European Union because I believe it is setting about crushing what is different throughout Europe and trying to create one bland flavour that at the end of the day is good for nobody.

When Ireland joined the European Community it was a community. A community is supposed to care for people in the good and bad times. However, when things went bad for us in terms of the banking crisis the European Union did not take care of us, rather it saddled us with €70 billion worth of debt. That is not something a community does to people it respects. I know many people who in 1973, at which time I was only a year old, campaigned for Ireland to join the European Community and would now campaign at the drop of a hat for it to leave the EU.

The fact that the number of Irish MEPs is being reduced from 12 to 11 makes this situation even worse. It means that we will now have even less influence. Every time something done in the European Union requires to be transposed into Irish law the Irish Government tries to impose it on us by saying it is being forced by Europe to do it. It is then a little baffled when it comes to a referendum as to the reason people are not fans of Europe. One of the reasons for this is successive governments, rather than introducing policies that will protect our water, environment and so on, telling the people they are being forced to do certain things with the result that the people never get a chance to consider whether what is being proposed is a good idea or not. All they are told is that it is a diktat.

Listening to some people one would think we would be living in caves if we had not joined the European Community in 1973. What these people point to in support of their argument is the equipment being used on farms at that time and how we have progressed. Norway, Iceland and Switzerland did not join this Frankenstein creation and they have progressed well since 1973. They also have not been saddled with €70 billion worth of banking debt. The European Union in imposing this cut on the people of Ireland and in socialising bank debt around parts of Europe has created the very problem it was supposed to prevent, namely, the rise of the extreme right. It is a simple fact that if one puts two friendly rats into a cage and does not feed them they will eventually try to eat each other. The EU is creating the conditions whereby people are turning on each other. People are becoming desperate because the money that should be in their pockets is now in the hands of the elite. We will see a rise of the right, about which I have heard the Minister, Deputy Shatter, express concern. If he is so concerned why then does he not do something about it? People are rightly sick and tired of socialism for the rich.

We only get one view on Europe in this country. Last year, Deputy Creighton led a European propaganda campaign which was funded by the taxpayer and which involved her travelling around the country explaining to everybody how wonderful Europe is. However, there was no funding for anybody to travel around the country explaining the downsides of Europe, such as the loss of our sugar beet industry, the losses of turf cutters and the loss of our sovereignty. In a couple of years Ireland will celebrate the centenary of 1916. What is the point in celebrating the fact that almost 100 years ago we got our sovereignty only to give it away again? It is crazy.

If the Irish people had the opportunity to debate this issue - these issues are never properly debated - they would come to the conclusion that Europe must go into reverse gear. When we entered into the Act of Union with Britain in 1801, Lord Byron was quoted as saying that there is only union of a small country and a big country, that is the union between a boa constrictor and its prey.

I am one of many people in this country who might be described as eurosceptic, who loves Europe but who does not like the project that is going on now. It is time we started debating that. If we want to get sovereignty back in this country, the first thing we must do is get sovereignty of the mind or the sovereignty to think for ourselves. We should consider the fact that this country can feed ten times its population. The country has many assets, such as young educated people - those who are left. Why have we the hands out with the begging bowl when we have all these assets? The reason is because our experiment as a province of this massive country has failed. We need to think again.

At the moment as far as I can see from the candidates who have their names put forward in the European elections, almost every one is singing from the same hymn sheet. They are terrified that we would not be able to stand on our own two feet. As I have said, we can feed ten times our population. Still, we do not seem to have anyone going forward in these elections who is willing to stand up and argue that there is a better way for Europe and for the ordinary people. That better way is to think again about Europe, to reverse gear and to do so quickly.

See this speech in context