Libertas (lobby group)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Libertas is a lobby group advocating a no vote to the 2008 referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon in Ireland.

Contents

[edit] History

Libertas was founded by Galway businessman Declan Ganley. Ganley's first mention of Libertas was in a paper Constitutional Treaty; A Threat to Democracy and How to Avoid it that he wrote for an American think tank the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in December 2003.[1]

[edit] Campaigning

On 12 March 2008, Libertas launched a campaign called Facts, not politics which advocates a No vote in the referendum.[2] Libertas have said they expect to spend in the region of €1.5m on the campaign.[3]

The Sunday Business Post reports that the groups efforts at projecting its warnings about the treaty in the media have been "hugely successful".[4] Ireland's Minister of State for European Affairs Dick Roche has clashed strongly with the group.[5]

[edit] Organisation

The Chairman is Declan Ganley, Naoise Nunn is the Executive Director, David Cochrane is the Campaign Director and John McGuirk is the Communications Director.[6]

[edit] Funding

Libertas says it is funded by private donations, which is perfectly legal, though donations above a certain amount will have to be disclosed by the group after the referendum. According to the group, Ganley and his wife have already donated the maximum amount of €6,300.[7]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ganley, Declan (December 2003). Europe’s Constitutional Treaty: A Threat to Democracy and How to Avoid It. Foreign Policy Research Institute. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
  2. ^ "Anti-Lisbon treaty campaign is launched", RTÉ News, 2008-06-15. 
  3. ^ "Treaty camps matching each other in €3.5m splurge on poll", Irish Independent, 2008-03-12. 
  4. ^ Leahy, Pat. "Irish Business News". The Sunday Business Post. 
  5. ^ "Lisbon Treaty will not curb veto rights on tax, says commission" . The Irish Times. 
  6. ^ About Libertas. Libertas Website. Retrieved on 2008-06-01.
  7. ^ "Libertas and its letters from Austria", The Sunday Business Post, 2008-05-25. 

[edit] External links

This article about an organisation in Ireland is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.