Eamon Gilmore, his U-Turn and the proposed October 2009 Referendum

[Ah Well]

Eamon Gilmore appeared on the RTE Six One News on 13th June 2008 following the result (being a No Vote) of the Lisbon Treaty Referendum in Ireland which took place on 12th June 2008 and he was interviewed by Brian Dobson.

The following are extracts of what Eamon Gilmore stated during the interview and the entire interview can be seen/listened to as per the link below;

I think the Lisbon Treaty is dead. The Lisbon Treaty to be ratified requires 27 Member States to ratify it. The Irish people have now decided in a Referendum that they do not wish to have it ratified therefore Ireland cannot ratify the Lisbon Treaty and therefore the Lisbon Treaty falls

When Brian Dobson suggested that Brian Cowen seemed to be holding out at least the possibility that it would be put again to the people as Lisbon 2, Eamon Gilmore then went on to state;

I don't think there's any question of this Treaty being put a second time to the people. This isn't like what happened at the Nice Referendum when there was a low turnout the first time round. The Government went back got some additional Declarations and there were some changes made to our own domestic Law about how we handle European Law and it was put on that basis and it went through on that basis. This was a good turnout of Electors. People have made a decision. The Lisbon Treaty cannot now be ratified. And I think that the decision that has been made by the Irish people has got to be respected by everybody. Got to be respected by the Taoiseach, by the Government, by the other Member States, by the political leadership in Brussels.

Eamon Gilmore went on to say subsequently during the interview that;

I think at this stage there is no point in us rerunning the Campaign. The fact of the matter is that a decision has now been made

and;

I certainly think that this particular proposal is now gone

The full interview is here -> RTÉ.ie Media Player: Lisbon result poses question for EU

On Friday 19th June 2009 a Statement was issued by Eamon Gilmore in which he welcomed the reported conclusions of the European Council in Brussels, in which he expressed his confidence that this would now enable the Lisbon Treaty to be put to the Irish people and endorsed by the Irish people and that he would now be recommending to the Labour Party that it support and strongly campaign for the ratification of the Treaty at the forthcoming referendum. It can be viewed on the Labour Party Website here -> Press releases » Media centre » The Labour Party

Should this be washed over simply as something stated in the past by the Party Leader of one of the main political Parties in this country and who now appears to be taking a contrary approach with the proposed forthcoming second Referendum on the Lisbon Treaty shortly due to occur? No it should not

Does it compromise Eamon Gilmore? I should certainly think so, seeing as he stated on the National Broadcaster on 13th June 2008 that he thought the Lisbon Treaty was dead, that the Treaty had fallen, that he thought there was no question of the Lisbon Treaty being put a second time to the Irish people, that the Lisbon Treaty could not be ratified, that the decision made by the Irish people had to be respected by everybody, that there was no point in rerunning the Campaign and that he thought this proposal was now gone

What is significant about his Statement as issued on 19th June 2009? The last paragraph thereof is entirely at variance with his prior position as per his interview on RTE Six One News on 13th June 2008

Does this compromise the Labour Party? I would most certainly think so, seeing as it is their Party Leader who has made as much of a U-Turn as is conceivably possible and is now recommending to the Party that it support and strongly campaign for the ratification of the Treaty at the forthcoming Referendum



This should NOT be washed over in the coming months. This should be raised particularly in the Media with Mr. Gilmore or other Party Colleagues when promoting a Yes Vote regarding the forthcoming Referendum.

[Clanrickard]

Gilmore is a hypocrite. These statements should be waved under his nose and should ensure he never gets near government.

[CookieMonster]

You know when you're sitting in a carpark and you see somebody trying to back into/out of a parkling space. It takes them a while and you keep watching, you know they'll manage it eventually... this is kind of like Eamonn Gilmore's "u-turn". We all knew he'd manage it eventually.

[PhoenixIreland]

I like GilmoreXP.
Gilmore Vista is a douche.

[CookieMonster]

I like GilmoreXP.
Gilmore Vista is a douche.

Service Pack 2 isn't going to make a difference to his performance either. And Labour 7 is a long way away...

[Ah Well]

One thing bout it tho .... plenty Poster material for the No Camp from that 13/6/08 TV Interview .... preferably placed underneath Labour Lisbon MkII Posters

[CookieMonster]

One thing bout it tho .... plenty Poster material for the No Camp from that 13/6/08 TV Interview .... preferably placed underneath Labour Lisbon MkII Posters

The no camp won't have posters.

[Ah Well]

The no camp won't have posters.

CM don't be SO negative.. there are other ways to get the message across

[CookieMonster]

CM don't be SO negative.. there are other ways to get the message across

It's going to be lead by socialists. So the only ways the will have are public meetings in Wynn's Hotel which only they will go to so they can agree with eachother over the treaty being the spawn of the neo-liberals/neo-cons or whatever shadow they're chasing that day. Only to then disagree over which particular flavour of comunism should be used. Then they'll all go off and smoke some weed and get f**k all done.

Joe Higgins will make some very nice speeches which nobody will listen to and after a while the remains of the country, their will broken, will vote yes.

[Drico]

Gilmore is a muppet, I thought that we all knew that here already.

His visage glaring across the Liffey from Liberty Hall is rather scary to be honest and surely was proof enough that the man has a rather bloated sense of self-importance and his constant waffle and self contradictions clearly point to his being a muppet.

This is simply what we have come to expect.