Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

A nun in Sligo whom I canvassed told me that we will not be allowed to say Mass or to pray and that it would be like a return to penal times. I said to her: "Sister, as a teacher who has taught all your life, can you not see further than your nose? How can those things happen?" Furthermore, many people did not realise why they were voting "No". Many considered it sexy, with it and cool to vote "No", in the same way they thought it good to listen to a celebrity telling them to vote "No". I believe that if the referendum was put to them again, it would be a different kettle of fish. Senator Ormonde referred to a two tier Europe, with a fast lane and a slow lane. We do not wish to be anybody's poor relation. We have done very well as a result of our participation in Europe and we must always remember that.

I met people who said they did not have enough information. I tried to engage with them and tell them the little I knew. Rather than appear arrogant by telling them I knew it all, I told them I knew a little and asked to discuss the things about which they were unsure. They did not want that information. There are people who felt disconnected. There were also people who were cross with Irish politicians, regardless of whether they were on the "Yes" or "No" side. People said that campaigners for the "Yes" side did not come out onto the pitch early enough, that they came out at half time. I disagreed with that. I told them we came out to campaign at the same time as in other referendum campaigns. When we did come out, we were catching up and putting out fires because the "No" side misrepresented everything that was good in the treaty. It was spinning not white lies but big black lies.

There is a need for a national debate on the EU. We are part of the Union, are proud of it and have to stop blaming Brussels for this, that and the other. Those days are over. Let us be proud to be part of it and to move it on. We also have to evaluate why the vote went the way it did. In doing so we still accept democracy was at its best. We got the "No" vote returned and we accept that but there are issues that arise and have to be looked at.

Given the way the "No" side treated the unrelated issues in the treaty, such as tax and abortion, and given all the misrepresentations, there was very little time to get the positive elements across, such as the Charter of Fundamental Rights, prioritising climate change and energy security. They are the issues on which we should have been concentrating. Every time we came out to put out one fire the "No" side built the fire even higher.

The "No" side was let set the agenda by the media. It is very unfair and unbalanced when the national broadcaster allocates equal speaking time to such an unrepresentative "No" side. If one looks at the Houses of the Oireachtas, there are about ten members of both Houses who called for a "No" vote. They were given exactly the same time as the majority of the people in this House.