Councillors reflect

Councillors reflect on ‘No’ victory in ‘David and Goliath contest’

COUNTY COUNCIL REACTION
Michael Duffy

AT last week’s meeting of Mayo County Council, the majority of councillors came out in support of a Yes vote on the Lisbon Treaty, but the whips of the two main parties were more disappointed than shocked at the result which was apparent early on Friday morning.
It wasn’t even a close call. The Mayo constituency had the largest numerical vote against the Lisbon Treaty in the country, the electorate choosing to ignore recommendations from our five sitting TDs, including the Opposition leader, our three MEPs and the clear majority of our county councillors. So where did it all go wrong?
Fine Gael whip, Cllr Paddy McGuinness, felt the tide turning last late week.
“Towards the end of the campaign doubts were continually being placed in people’s minds, they were constantly being told ‘if you don’t understand it, then vote No’. But these same people voted for Maastricht and voted for Nice, documents which were every bit as complex,” said Cllr McGuinness, who felt the timing of the referendum had a lot more to do with the final result than any other factor. 
“I believe the result had more to do with the timing. In essence this was a protest vote, about local and national issues and it’s a shame at the end of the day it is our relationship with Europe which may ultimately suffer.”
Cllr McGuinness said the result was no reflection on the leadership of Fine Gael and that Enda Kenny had ‘nothing to be ashamed of’.
“He acted honourably and did his best to convince the people of both Mayo and the rest of the country that Yes was the right thing to do. But the people have chosen to vote No and maybe the way forward is to try and conduct surveys to see the actual reasons why people made their decisions.”
Fianna Fáil whip, Cllr Al McDonnell, said his overriding feeling was one of disappointment.
“I think a lot of people are only now realising that the main issues in this treaty far outweigh their local or national concerns. The reality is that the decision taken will have consequences for the entire population of this country – and it has implications for us as a trusted member of the European Union.
“I believe side issues brought in by the No campaign were allowed to cloud the whole central point of the Treaty – the fact that the EU is expanding and in order to facilitate this certain changes had to be made.”
Cllr McDonnell also refused to accept the fact that not enough was done on the ground in rural communities to convince people to vote Yes.
“I will not apportion blame to those behind the Yes campaign. All the main parties did their best to encourage the people of Ireland to understand the main issues at hand. I know our councillors here were fully behind the Yes campaign and I did not hear one modicum of dissent among them.”
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin councillor Gerry Murray is adamant that following the defeat of the Lisbon Treaty ‘both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have major lessons to learn’.
“The people of Mayo have spoken. They share Sinn Féin’s concerns about the Lisbon Treaty and believe that a better deal is possible. They also share our view that Ireland’s place in Europe is secure. The Government now has a clear and strong mandate to get back around the table with our EU partners and secure a better deal.”