Seanad debates

Tuesday, 8 April 2008

Address by President of the European Parliament

 

11:00 am

Photo of Fiona O'MalleyFiona O'Malley (Progressive Democrats)

I thank Mr. Pöttering and it has been a pleasure to listen to him speak, as Senator Quinn mentioned, with such passion. The ratification of the Lisbon treaty is an issue for Ireland and there is a certain level of complacency, which is a challenge we must address. We need good reason to try and sell the treaty to the people. As the treaty is a tidying-up exercise people are not really exercised about it and begin to wonder if they will bother voting. That is what we need to guard against. The presence of Mr. Pöttering here kicks off the campaign. It is important to reiterate what Mr. Pöttering said, which is that he is not here to tell the people how to vote, but merely presenting his own arguments on why it is a good idea to vote "Yes".

It was also a pleasure to listen to him because he highlighted the importance of Ireland to the EU, as well as the importance of the EU to Ireland. It is always good to listen to praise about ourselves and he has all made us feel good. I did not agree with everything he said but that is to be expected.

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