Independent TDs and MEP to call for referendum to be delayed
14 May 2012
A group of independent TDs and an MEP will call for the Fiscal Compact referendum to be delayed later today. The group, which includes TDs Shane Ross, Catherine Murphy and Finian McGrath, as well as MEP Marian Harkin, will say a deferral of the referendum would be in the country’s best interests following the election in France, the fall of the Dutch government, and the ongoing political turmoil in Greece.
Ireland West MEP Marian Harkin accuses European Council of blackmailing Ireland over fiscal treaty – Feb 2, 2012
Ireland West MEP Marian Harkin has made a speech in the European Parliament accusing the European Council of blackmailing Ireland into linking acceptance of the new fiscal treaty with access to the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).
Harkin said that Ireland had “kept the rules and been the model pupil yet keeping the rules” but that keeping to the rules had not worked for the country. Harkin said her speech in the European Parliament was the hardest she had ever said in the chamber.
In Ireland we are told to keep the rules of the new fiscal treaty, it will eliminate the risk of future crisis and help solve the current one. Yet from 2002 to 2008 Ireland did not once break the rules of the Stabilisation Growth Pact, unlike others – so we know from bitter experience the rules don’t always deliver and certainly will not deal with the current crisis.
In 2007, our debt to GNP ratio was approximately 30%. By 2014, it will have ballooned to 145% – no developed economy can survive those levels of debt. Ireland has just about survived four years of austerity. Our debt levels directly linked to bailing out banks in Ireland and in Europe are now simply unsustainable. Yet we are told that more of the same without any commitment to Eurobonds, Redemption Funds, or debt restructuring will solve our problems. It will not, and cannot and, given that our access to the ESM is tied into ratification of the Treaty, it is little short of blackmail.
These are the hardest words I have ever said in this Parliament and I hope I will never have to repeat them. Europe can do a lot better than that, for itself and for Ireland.
Marian Harkin MEP
A video of her speech earlier is below.
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