Mary Lou McDonald to meet senior politicians in France as Nicolas Sarkozy takes over EU Presidency
Mary Lou McDonald will attend a press conference at 11.30am tomorrow (Tues 1st July) in the Assemblée Nationale, Bureau No. 1, 3 Rue Aristide Briand, Paris 7°. Among those attending the press conference will be Jean-Luc Mélenchon French Socialist Senator, and President of Pour la République Sociale (PRS), PS member of the Assemblée National Marc Dolez, and Marie-Georges Buffet, General Secretary of the PCF.
Sinn Féin MEP Mary Lou McDonald, Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD and Raymond McCartney
this morning briefed Ambassadors from EU member states on what needs to
happen following the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty and ongoing
developments in the peace process.
Ms. McDonald has an article
published in the French newspaper L’Humanité today on the eve of the French
taking over the Presidency of the European Union. She is travelling to
Paris tomorrow (Tuesday 1st July) for a series of engagements with senior
French politicians who led the successful campaign against the EU
Constitution. They will discuss what needs to happen following the
rejection of the Lisbon Treaty including the need for parties across Europe
to work together to secure a better deal.
Speaking in Dublin
today Ms. McDonald said:
“This morning Sinn Féin briefed
Ambassadors and Embassy representatives from across the EU on the outcome of
the Lisbon Treaty referendum. We discussed the reasons for the no vote and
we outlined the need for the ratification process to stop and a new Treaty
to be brought forward.
“Tomorrow I am traveling to the
French capital to meet with senior politicians who played a leading role in
the French campaign against the EU Constitution. We will be discussing the
need for a new Treaty, which deals with the concerns raised by people across
Europe about democracy, militarisation, workers rights and public services.
We will also be discussing how parties across Europe can work together to
help bring this about.
“As the French will take over the
Presidency of the EU the people of Ireland will be watching carefully to see
if Nicolas Sarkozy respects the outcome of our referendum and indeed the
wishes of the people of France and the Netherlands who also rejected the EU
Constitution. Will he show real political leadership and facilitate the
negotiation of a new treaty or will he try and force through a revamped
Lisbon Treaty.”ENDS