This article is from page 4 of the 2012-04-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE Clare TD who admitted his party had its eye off the ball when it came to the first Lisbon Treaty will be hoping that his team is playing as one in the run up to the Fiscal Stability Treaty referendum as he receives the captain’s arm band.
Fianna Fáil’s Timmy Dooley has been appointed Director of Elections for the May 31 referendum by party leader Deputy Michéal Martin.
The Clare TD will now be hoping that his home constituency will fol- low in the tradition of previous European referenda and return a yes vote.
The Banner county had the largest acceptance on the western seaboard of the second Lisbon Referendum with 72.3 per cent vote in favour of the referendum.
It was also one of the few counties to support the first Lisbon referendum.
Deputy Dooley admitted at the time that the FF focus wasn’t total: “There was a lot going on within the Fianna Fáil organisation on the occasion (of Lisbon 1.)”
This time around, the Fianna Fáil party leader has entrusted the Clare TD with a strong yes campaign for the Fiscal Stability Treaty.
“Timmy, as a member of the SubCommittee on the Stability Treaty, has been making a constructive and positive contribution to the debate so far and I have no doubt he will continue to add to the standard of the debate in the weeks ahead,” said Mr Martin.
The newly appointed Director of Elections has been critical of the current Fine Gael-Labour Government’s approach to the referendum.
He said, “The debate in the Dáil and public comments by ministers show that the government is presenting the Treaty as part of its economic recovery plans.
‘This is a foolish approach almost designed to turn away people who support the Treaty but do not endorse the government’s strategies.
“Allied to the fact that the Government has abandoned past practice of active coordination with other proEU parties and a picture is developing of a government more committed to getting a political boost than maximising the chances of a large yes vote,” said Deputy Dooley.