How long will Messrs Roche, McDowell, de Rossa and Begg resist the pressure to join the "racists"?

national | eu | opinion/analysis Friday February 06, 2004 12:59 by Anthony Coughlan - National Platform

Press statement from Anthony Coughlan, Secretary, The National Platform

.

During the lead-up to the second Nice referendum in October 2002 Messrs
Dick Roche, Michael McDowell, Proinsias de Rossa and David Begg implied
that Anthony Coughlan of the National Platform  and Justin Barrett  of the
No-to-Nice Campaign  were stirring up racism and anti-immigrant sentiment
by pointing to the problems that would arise for the Irish labour market
and social service system if  most EU countries imposed restrictions on
East European migrants from 1 May  next, but Ireland and some others  did
not.


Now that Ireland is the only EU country to offer an open door to whatever
proportion of our 75 million fellow EU citizens might choose to migrate
here from 1 May, the public will watch with interest to see how long Messrs
Roche, McDowell, de Rossa and Begg will resist the pressures that will be
on them to join the presumably "racist" EU Governments that have decided to
derogate from the EU treaties and maintain migration controls for up to
seven years!


The policy of the National Platform and the No-to-Nice campaign on EU
migration was cynically misrepresented by these gentlemen and others during
the 2002 Nice referendum.  On one occasion RTE's Morning Ireland  gave Mr
Dick Roche TD virtual carte blanche  to spew out slander and lies on the
matter.


The position of the two organisations mentioned was that all  EU Member
States should follow the same policy as regards East European migrants.
Preferably they should all be made welcome from Day One of their accession,
or, failing that, on some agreed date thereafter, when all EU borders would
be opened simultaneously;  but the organisations pointed out that the
Government's policy of extending Irish citizens' rights of work, domicile
and social maintenance  to East European migrants when all other EU States
were not doing so, was manifestly foolish, and would cause Ireland problems
and embarrassment in time, as now looks like happening.


In June 2001 Foreign Minister Brian Cowen wrote an unsolicited letter on
behalf of the Irish Government  to his East European counterparts,
including Romania and Bulgaria, stating that their migrating citizens would
be welcome to Ireland from Day One of their Accession to the EU,
irrespective of what other EU governments did.  The text of this letter has
never been disclosed. What exact commitment did Minister Cowen give on
behalf of the Irish Government  and people, for the matter was never
discussed or authorised by the Dail?


Last week Poland's Prime Minister Leszek Millar congratulated the
Government on its continued  "open door" policy during his visit to Dublin.
How can the Irish Government now possibly change its position without
insulting our new East European "partners"  or else making itself and the
Irish people look ridiculous,  for no other EU State seems to have given
such a written, unsolicited commitment.

It seems now virtually inevitable that the Government will  do a policy
U-turn and fall in line with the rest of the EU in imposing migration
controls  on East European EU citizens - the only question being when,  and
what degree  of cynicism, lies and Ministerial spoofery will accompany  it.



Two issues look like determining the timing of this U-turn:


Currently Messrs Ahern, Cowen and Roche, in their EU Presidency guise,  are
fronting for Germany and France in seeking to inveigle and   bully  Poland
into abandoning the voting system for making  EU laws that was the basis on
which Poland and the other Applicant countries  joined the EU - and which
Messrs Ahern, Cowen, Roche and their  allies championed  as the best system
for EU lawmaking in Ireland's two Nice Treaty referendums.


It would be easier for Prime Minister Millar's Government  to abandon
Polish interests  vis-à-vis Germany in a deal mediated through Ireland  -
with Iveagh House advancing itself  in novel guise as champion of
nationalist  and Catholic Ireland, true kin to the Poles!  - and thereafter
sell such a deal to a sceptical Polish public, than to be seen to submit to
direct bullying by Germany and  France.


Such trickery and vicarious bullying by the Irish EU Presidency might
however be harder to succeed were Ireland  to renege at this sensitive
moment on the "open door" comitment Foreign Minister Cowen gave to Poland
and the other East Europeans in his June 2001 1etter.


A second relevant factor is that Iveagh House  does not want to spoil the
public relations  jamboree it is planning for 1st May next, when the Irish
Presidency acts as EU host to the 10 Accession countries. Slamming the door
on East European migrants while holding a party in Dublin to welcome them
symbolically into the EU might seem just too hypocritical for some.


Doubtless some in Iveagh House will be counselling holding the party on May
1st and then  imposing the migration controls on the East Europeans  on May
2nd  or soon thereafter.   Others will be saying,  impose the migration
controls now  (We can blame them on the Brits,  although  Minister Cowen's
"open door"  letter seems to have been written on the assumption that the
UK was maintaining   controls)  -  and get the bad news out of the way as
long as possible before our "welcome" for our new partners on 1  May.


It can be assumed that these considerations will be governing  current
Irish foreign policy  on this matter.


Anthony  Coughlan

Secretary