Question sent by
Reply from
Kathleen Funchion
Thank you very much for the question, as you will know from the Lisbon Treaty Campaign Sinn Féin was the only political party to campaign for a no vote, to a large extent I think the establishment parties were very surprised at the rejection of the treaty, cleary they were not in touch with people and it showed the government had not considered or planned for an alternative. Although there is a plan to re run the Lisbon Treaty, I don´t believe that all is lost and people need to stay very strong on the issue, if we want to protect our public services, our neutrality and protect workers rights in this country then the Lisbon treaty in its current form has to be rejected, what we need in Europe is strong leadership and MEP´s who are not afraid to criticise the E.U. and the direction it is taking, I think Mary Lou McDonald was an excellent voice for both Irish and European citizens who wanted a no vote. It is through the election of people who want to see a more accountable and democratic Europe that we will see change take place. France and the Netherlands rejected the E.U. Constitution, which was basically Lisbon in another format and they were not treated with the same disregard as Ireland was, I would like to see a more accountable, democratic and equal Europe, which is why I am running and if elected will be a voice for change. I hope I have answered your question but you can contact me again if you would like more information
Thanks
Kathleen Funchion