Eurolink News

Libertas founder likely to run in euro elections (11/12/08)

December 11, 2008 at 8:35 pm 1 comment

The founder of anti-Lisbon group Libertas Declan Ganley is almost certain to contest next summer’s European elections in the Northwest constituency, following the launch of Libertas as a pan-European political party last week. Libertas is due to confirm which candidates it will field in which constituencies by mid-January, but it is widely expected that Galwegian Declan Ganley will enter the race.
Speaking at the launch in Brussels, Mr Ganley said his party will be publishing a policy document in the coming months, adding ‘If people want a strong and healthy Europe that is democratic and answerable to them, they should vote for a Libertas candidate.’ Libertas will lobby strongly against any re-run of the Lisbon Treaty referendum, and will put forward candidates in several European countries where anti-Lisbon sentiment is strongest, possibly including the Czech Republic, France and the UK.
Responding to the news of a new rival for one of the Northwest’s three MEP seats, Independent MEP Marian Harkin said she was looking forward to an ‘interesting’ election campaign. ‘Declan Ganley is high-profile, he has celebrity status,’ she said. ‘There’s a lot of controversy surrounding him, and that will all add spice to the mix.’
Libertas is to apply for EU funding to run its Europe-wide election campaign. Meanwhile, Mr Ganley is in ongoing discussions with the Standards in Public Office Commission in Ireland about how he funded the Libertas ‘No to Lisbon’ campaign, which is thought to have cost over €1 million.

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