Mayo goes full circle and backs Lisbon

Mayo goes full circle and backs Lisbon


Anton McNulty

THE people of Mayo’s love/hate relationship with the Lisbon Treaty went full-circle last Friday when they overwhelmingly backed the treaty with 61.7 per cent voting Yes - the exact percentage who voted No in June 2008.
The turn-out for the county was at 56.2 per cent with a total of 55,392 voters coming out to vote compared to 48,625 valid votes for the referendum in 2008 - when 30,001 voted against the treaty with only 18,624 voting for it.
However, this year 34,056 voted in favour of the Treaty compared to 21,132 who voted against it. The swing to the Yes vote was up by 23.4 per cent compared to a drop of 23.4 per cent for the No side.
The Fine Gael leader and Mayo TD, Enda Kenny, was in Mayo last week for a public meeting on the build-up to referendum day and said the vote was a mature and informed decision.
“Through this decisive result, Ireland has strengthened its place at the heart of the European family. In fact, today Ireland leads Europe. This is a very mature and informed decision. I am delighted that the vast majority of people voted on the issue at hand in spite of the efforts of some to distract them. I hope that this result will pave the way for the completion of the ratification process so that the Lisbon reforms can come into effect as soon as possible,” Mr Kenny said.
The Yes vote was also welcomed by the Minister for Labour Affairs, Dara Calleary, TD, who commended all the work done by various groups who called for a Yes vote. He added that the reaction and the coverage of the International press to the result showed that it was a good decision for the country.
“I was happy to see when I canvassed for Lisbon this time that voters were engaged and interested in the Referendum and I feel that the legal guarantees secured by the Government following the last Lisbon vote had a positive impact. The scale of the Yes vote will send strong signals to the global business community that Ireland is a pro-European and an ideal location for investment or expansion,” he said.
Minister Calleary said that Ireland was now in a unique position where it could generate investment and create employment.
“As the only English speaking country in the Eurozone, Ireland is in a unique position and we can now exploit that to generate investment and jobs. Such a strong Yes vote in Mayo was a clear recognition that Europe will play an important part in helping the country with the economic recovery,” he said.
Sinn Féin councillor, Gerry Murray explained that the result was inevitable because the focus of the referendum was taken away from the Treaty and instead the major parties focused on jobs and recovery.
“Basically the three questions asked were are you in favour of recovery, prosperity and jobs. Those were the questions being asked by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and people went out to vote on those three questions. It was subtle spin really,” he said.
Cllr Murray said they were confident their analysis of the Treaty would be vindicated within weeks rather than months and said Sinn Féin would be putting a motion before the next Council meeting calling for the insertion of a local employment clause in all council tenders and contracts in Mayo from January 1, which he hopes will protect local jobs.