Local Coir and FF clash over Lisbon spin

An Athlone member of controversial anti Lisbon group Coir has defended the group this week, amid criticisms from local Fianna Fáil chairman Michael O'Brien. Coir has come under the spotlight in recent days as a result of their posters which campaigns for a No vote in the upcoming Lisbon referendum. The posters inform the general public about halving of the Irish voting power in Europe, the fact that most Europeans would vote against the treaty if they got the chance and the threat of small farmer's livelihood. Minister Michael Martin has accused Coir of spreading lies and myths. However, Maria Buckley from Athlone would like the opportunity to defend the organisation whose only concern is the welfare of our country and its citizens. Maria said "All of our posters contain facts and have been checked and rechecked over the past year by a group of unbiased barristers. Some of the posters contain facts from Eurostat the official EU statistics office. These facts are available on our website www.coircampaign.org." "The posters attracted the wrath of the Yes side from both the government and 'Ireland for Europe'. One poster in particular displaying 'minimum wage €1.84?' drew huge attention. I can tell you that this figure was the average minimum wage of the 12 accession states and as stated previously obtained from Eurostat," she said. Maria is open to scrutiny and checks and fully welcomes the public to check it for themselves. She continued "The YES campaign has only mudslinging and smears for their campaign because they cannot refute the truth… They are deliberately avoiding debates on the content of the Treaty as their slogans are repeated vacuous mantras which have no substance." "The figure of €1.84 should resonate with a lot of hardworking families already hard pressed to make ends meet. If Lisbon passes the European Court of Justice will have the power to overrule our constitution (Article 17) and this removes our constitutional protection of workers' rights. "The ECJ has already ruled in three other cases against workers striking for fairer wages (Laval, Ruffert and Viking). This will show you the already present mindset of the ECJ in its continual favouritism towards bigger corporations and its contempt for workers," Maria said However, local Fianna Fáil chairman and member of the party's national executive Michael O'Brien said this week he was sickened, but not surprised, by posters from Coir claiming the minimum wage would go to €1.84 if we voted yes to Lisbon. "Last year during the first Lisbon referendum anti-Lisbon groups like Coir and Libertas covered the country with posters stating many untruths about the Lisbon Treaty and one year on they're at it again, minus Libertas of course," said Mr O'Brien. "First of all I'd just like to say that Coir's €1.84 poster is a big fat lie that has absolutely no basis. It annoys me to think that anti groups can swan around the country telling notorious lies and get away with it. These people represent no one and are simply reckless anti-European groups intent on dragging Ireland back to the 1950. I wish they would wake up and smell the recession and get a reality check," he added. He said: "At a time of unprecedented economic challenge when jobs are scarce, voters are entitled to consider whether they will find prosperity at the edge of, or at the heart of, Europe." "We need to keep this big picture in mind as we weigh up the merits of the Lisbon Treaty ahead of our referendum on October 2. Those who say that we can reject Lisbon and leave our standing within the Union and our international reputation unaffected are seriously mistaken."