‘Decisive’ yes to treaty in Clare

COUNTY Clare had one of the highest percentage of yes votes in the country in last week’s Fiscal Stability Treaty Referendum. Nearly two-thirds of voters in the county were in favour of the treaty after weeks of lobbying from the county’s four TDs.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter’s Dublin South constituency recorded the highest percentage yes vote in the country at 75.80%. This was followed by Labour leader Eamon Gilmore’s Dún Laoghaire (74.20%), Dublin South-East, the home of Education Minister Ruairí Quinn (72.30%), Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s Mayo (67.20%), Cork South-West (66.30%) and Limerick (66.10%).
In Clare, 65.7% of voters endorsed the treaty, compared to 34.3% against it.
Labour TD Michael McNamara said passing the referendum was a difficult decision for many people, including himself, but said he was glad “that clarity has been brought to the situation. The people of Ireland and Clare have provided a decisive result that will reinforce the Government efforts to work our way through the Eurozone crisis with greater urgency with our EU partners. We need to press ahead with the growth agenda and work hard on getting a deal on the bank debt.”
According to the East Clare man, passing the referendum “is not a solution to our problems. In many ways, it can be described as the least bad option. However, a very substantial majority has decided that the Fiscal Stability Pact is unavoidable. Clare has once again voted in favour, continuing the tradition of voting yes in every European referendum to date.”
Local Fianna Fáil TD and the party’s director of elections, Timmy Dooley, was naturally pleased with the result.
“It was such a decisive decision in Clare, which showed a strong yes vote and I’m pleased that the argument put forward by Fianna Fáil was accepted but by the same token, it is a very small result in what is a long-term project. This treaty, of itself, is not going to solve the economic crisis, it is just a foundation on which economic recovery can be built. In order for economic recovery to be built, major decisions have to be taken by this Government and Europe. They need to look towards stability of economic growth, reform of the central bank, neutralisation of sovereign debt and a special arrangement to deal with the private banking debt, which Ireland was forced to underwrite by our partners in the EU. It’s a welcome first step but there is a lot more heavy lifting to be done,” he told The Clare Champion.
Fine Gael TD and chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, Pat Breen said the result sends out a clear message to our European Union partners that Ireland wants to remain at the very heart of Europe.
“I know from speaking to people during the course of this campaign that they were very much aware of the importance of passing this treaty in terms of Ireland’s future role in the European Union. The fact that the Irish people endorsed the treaty is already receiving a very positive reaction all over the world,” he said.
Speaking shortly after the result of the referendum was confirmed, Deputy Breen said he had already received “quite a number of calls from colleagues throughout Europe congratulating us on the result. The fact that we were the only country in the EU to hold a referendum and that, as a country, we have taken the lead in support of the treaty will, I have no doubt, pay dividends into the future with foreign direct investment continuing to flow into this country. It will also strengthen our Government’s hands in future discussions at EU level.”