Ganley's Back

A few days ago, @stevenconlon found some indications in the Wall Street Journal that Declan Ganley would return to the referendum debate on Lisbon despite saying that he would not campaign if he wasn't elected to the European Parliament in June (and since he wasn't elected...).

"His name is Declan Ganley. He was one of the driving forces behind the No campaign the last time around, and he's back to do it again. Your correspondent recently sat down with him to find out what he's fighting for in trying to see to it that Ireland once again votes No to Lisbon"

And yesterday he announced his return to the campaign:

"“It’s anybody’s right and privilege to change their mind,” he said yesterday. The Yes side were asking the Irish people to change their mind on Lisbon. “I didn’t want to re-engage in this debate. It wasn’t something that I relished.”

But he continued: “This isn’t about me, I’m not important in this. This is about Ireland’s place in the European Union . . . it’s about my country, a country that I love and it’s about standing up for the truth when people are telling huge lies, and the truth does not require a mandate.”

He said that “listening to this cacophony of half-truths and misleading campaigning – it’s just become unbearable”. He said the European Commission had “crossed a line that should never have been crossed and started to interfere in a constitutional debate in a member state”."

"The truth does not require a mandate"* - a fun line that simultaneously tries to reverse the relevance of his electoral defeat, while also claiming legitimacy from an abstract value. Ganley mandated by truth to campaign for a No? Well, it's good to know that someone has access to universal truths (well, treaty-related ones anyway).

Hopefully he won't be too adverse to the Referendum Commission answering questions.



*Sadly unlikely to work in everyday life situations.