EUROPE’S NEW fiscal treaty was specifically crafted to minimise the prospect of a referendum in Ireland, The Irish Times has learned.
As Fianna Fáil joined other Opposition groups in demanding a referendum, a high-level European official said elements of the pact were written with the objective of avoiding a public vote in Ireland.
The official acknowledged that the matter was likely to end up in the hands of the Supreme Court but said the EU authorities still hoped there would be no plebiscite in Ireland.
“We drafted the text for the treaty so that he has a chance to avoid a referendum,” the official said in reference to Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
“But this is not a political decision. You know that this is a decision made by the constitutional court.”Asked whether the authorities in Brussels believed a referendum was likely, the official said it was more a matter of hope. “It’s not in terms of likely or not likely, it is hopefully or not hopefully, so we’d hope they don’t need to go to a referendum.”
On the challenge facing the Government in any referendum, the official said it was “perfectly well” known that the answer the public gave would not be the answer to the question posed. “So it is nothing to do with democracy.”
Fiscal treaty designed to avoid Irish referendum, official says (Irish Times)
