Gerry Breen, Fine Gael

On Thursday 31st May you will be voting yes or no to the Stability Treaty. I ask you to vote yes and ensure that we can get our way out of the tough times we are in and back to sensible prosperity and jobs for all. Please see below a short article from Dan O Brien on the treaty and also a speech delivered by the former Taoiseach John Bruton.

Regards,
Councillor Gerry Breen

Opponents of treaty fail to perceive real dangers of rejection
By Dan O'Brien Economics Editor

Almost exactly five years ago, journalist Richard Curran warned of the risks of a property crash in his Futureshock television documentary. He was rounded upon. Scaremongering was one of the many charges levelled against him.

In his programme, Curran merely outlined the large and inherent risks of massive credit expansion and property price rises. He was not scaremongering.

But half a decade ago, talking about risk had become anathema. To the blind, the ignorant and the complacent, Ireland was invulnerable. For such people, anyone who raised the possibility of the good times ending badly was engaged in scaremongering.

Click here to read more of Dan O'Brien's article

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The Fiscal Compact Treaty - The Choice The Irish People Have To Make
Speech by John Bruton, former Taoiseach, and current vice President of Fine Gael

BASIC PRINCIPLE BEHIND COMPACT WAS ACCEPTED BY IRISH PEOPLE TWENTY YEARS AGO

Most of the commitments in the Fiscal Compact Treaty (formally known as the Treaty on Stability, Coordination, and Governance i the Economic and Monetary Union) are ones to which the Irish people have already agreed in principle in previous EU related referenda.

Irish people voted on 18 June 1992 to ratify the Maastricht Treaty. In so doing we democratically committed ourselves to a single currency, stable prices, sound public finances and a sustainable balance of payments. As we have learned, we have failed to adhere to the last two of these, sound public finances and a sustainable balance of payments.

We also committed ourselves in that referendum to treat economic policies here as a “matter of common concern”, which we would “coordinate” with our partners in the European Union. In particular, we committed ourselves to keep our Debt/GDP ratio below 60%, and our budget deficit below 3% of GDP.

It was natural that we should have agreed to this, once we agreed to a common currency in the first place.

Click here to read more the complete speech by John Bruton