UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon speaks at Dublin Castle

European Defence policy is based around the “Petersberg Tasks”. Composed of humanitarian and rescue tasks, peace-keeping tasks and tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking, these objectives demonstrate not only the humanitarian focus of the EU’s Security and Defence Policy but are also proof positive of Europe’s commitment to responding to the crises in many parts of the world that have cried out for outside intervention. The Lisbon treaty will enable the Union to respond more quickly and coherently to crises by introducing a permanent President of the European Council and a single High Representative for Foreign Affairs.

On his recent visit to Dublin, Ban Ki- Moon reflected these sentiments, saying that if Ireland passes the Lisbon Treaty, it would be “completely in consistence with the goals and ideals of the United Nations”. He expressed surprise that the role of Irish military forces caused confusion during the previous referendum campaign, and drew attention to the need for regional coalitions such as the European Union to be able to respond rapidly to emerging crises with a mandate from the United Nations. He praised the Irish triple lock system, under which the UN mandate is a requirement to send peacekeepers, “not just as a matter of policy but as a matter of law”.

Referring to the Irish- led mission in Chad, he stressed the important role that EU forces play in supporting United Nations peacekeeping work, praising Ireland as an exemplary peacekeeper and an example to other nations. He drew attention to the need for closer international co-operation and greater resourcing of peacekeeping missions. He saw the EU as a model for future missions, saying “The EU offers critical donor support for peacebuilding and early recovery. It has well-developed capacities for crisis management, humanitarian relief and rapid response. And of course, the EU can deploy well-equipped missions as part of, or alongside, UN peacekeeping operations”.

The Irish triple lock, which requires the explicit approval of the Dail, the Seanad and the UN for Irish troops to be deployed mean that Ireland’s involvement in any peacekeeping operation is entirely at its own discretion- a fact that was further reconfirmed by the legal guarantees obtained by the Irish Government. These guarantees state “The Treaty of Lisbon does not affect or prejudice Ireland’s traditional policy of military neutrality”.

As Ban says “we are in this together”. Irish neutrality has always been a cornerstone of our state, and it should always continue to be. But this does not mean we should bury our heads in the sand and ignore crises in other countries. For alongside our tradition of neutrality has been a proud tradition of serving humanitarian aims in countries like Cambodia, Lebanon, Liberia, and East Timor. As Ban Ki Moon’s remarks demonstrate, The Lisbon Treaty is fully compatible with our neutrality while facilitating more effective leadership in the humanitarian realm.

Irish troops have a proud tradition. Let’s continue it.

Yesterday saw an opinion piece published in the Irish Times written by Richard Greene from Coir. This article was marked not only by the fact that it nowhere referred to a single article in the reform treaty but it also repeated an assertion that the Lisbon Treaty would somehow affect the Irish position on abortion. Coir obviously subscribe to the “If you repeat something often enough it becomes true” school of debate. We at Generation Yes think that it is past time to put this particularly baseless untruth to bed permanently. Luckily, our friends at the European Movement Ireland had a similar idea. They write: “For the record:

The Lisbon Treaty will not bring abortion into this country.

• Since 1991 we have had a protocol in EU Treaty law clarifying our position on abortion. That’s eighteen years now. And still no piece of EU legislation that has questioned or affected this Protocol. In fact, since 1973 there has not been a piece of EU law that has sought to change our position on abortion.
• The Catholic Church has confirmed that our position on abortion is not affected by the Lisbon Treaty. During the first Lisbon Referendum, Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin said that ‘Catholics could vote for the Treaty in good conscience’.
• We are not alone. There are in fact five countries that have clear restrictive measures on abortion - Malta, Spain, Poland, Portugal and us. In fact, Malta has even stricter rules than we have.
• Just to make sure, we got an extra guarantee a couple of weeks ago from our European partners reassuring us that reasserts that our original 1991 protocol cannot be touched. “

We couldn’t have done it better ourselves! Generation Yes is committed to debating this treaty on its own merits, by referring to fact at every step of the way. This “Fight the Lies” section will continue to expose the fabrications of an unscrupulous no campaign with honest debate and clear arguments. Ireland’s position on abortion will be decided only by you, its citizens, as is firmly enshrined in both Irish and European law.

The debate around Lisbon is now beginning to take-off, with internet forums such as boards.ie providing excellent fora for debate.

Below are some of the highlights from one such discussion, which asked people to explain in a single sentence why they were voting for the treaty.

o   Ireland’s and Europe’s voices will be stronger on the world stage.

o   EU competency will be increased to a common energy policy, which should hopefully result in cheaper fuels/electricity (PopeBuckfastXVI)

o   More power to the democratically elected European Parliament

o   The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union will be enshrined in the law.

o   Lisbon makes it easier to handle more than 27 member states. (Turgon)

o   More national influence on legislation, Irish Dáil (and other parliaments) gain early access to influence new legislation. (Blitzkrieg)

o   Making the EU more democratic-giving the parliament more power and making it more accountable. (Conchubhar1)

o   It will make the running of the EU more efficient. (Mark200)

o   Time for national parliaments to review legislation increased from 6 weeks to 8 weeks.

o   First ever exit procedure contained in the treaties.

o   The role of the EU (European Council President) is changes to a 2.5 year term, which provides continuity in the work of the EU. (Hitman Actual)

o   More power to the European Parliament. (Iwasfrozen)

o   Citizens Initiative. (Mollyjh)

o   Vastly improves the current inefficient presidency system. Finally gives Ireland a say in the choice of the president of the council, as opposed to having to accept without question whichever EU leader’s turn it is.

o   It [Lisbon] enhances the powers of the European Parliament and allows National Parliaments more of a say in EU legislation. (Ixtlan)

For the full discussion please click here.

Generation YES continues to grow, with our Dublin based team moving to bigger offices soon to accomodate everyone. In fact, we are looking to recruit a video editing intern (see the job description), so if you think that you could help us out, why not send an email to info@generationyes.ie?

We are continuing to bring the campaign around the country, with Legal experts outlining the impact of the Legal Guarantees on Lisbon in various locations nationwide. We really need help promoting these events though, so if you, your friends, or family are interested in finding out more about Lisbon, and what the Treaty is really all about, please be sure to join us. You can find all the details on our facebook page, or by checking out our events on pingg.com (see links below).

Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Bart and the Gen YES team.

Cork Event
Waterford Event
Donegal Event
Galway Event
Limerick Event
Dublin Event