Seanad debates
Wednesday, 20 November 2002
European Communities (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage.
Without rerunning the referendum campaign, there are a few points worth making. Last year's result made it very clear that we were not engaging the people sufficiently well in wider debates about the future of Europe. That was a fundamental mistake. Many were of the view matters were changing in a way that gave them little opportunity to discuss what was happening and make their views and opinions heard in a meaningful way. In response to this concern, the Government established the National Forum on Europe which, under the excellent chairmanship of Senator Maurice Hayes, has already made an enormously valuable contribution to furthering national debate on European issues. When I discuss this aspect of our referendum in either Council meetings or at the convention, there is considerable interest in the workings of our national forum, in particular in the manner in which it handled the broad process of education and debate on Europe. It will be a model for similar fora in other jurisdictions.
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