After an incredible
morning in Belfast, I moved towards the south to begin campaigning for the ‘No’
vote in the upcoming Irish Austerity treaty.
Myself, Mike Nattrass MEP
and Trevor Colman MEP have produced a leaflet outlining why the no vote will
not benefit the nation. To support this leaflet, we have sent a team over to
campaign heavily in the run up to the vote on 31st May.
I spent a few days in
Ireland at the beginning of May to get a flavour of the mood surrounding the
treaty, and those who I spoke to on the ground have all been heavily in favour
of the NO vote.
Locations today have
included Dundalk, Drogheda and Dublin. We got terrific responses wherever we
went, and we feel confident that work on the ground is reflecting the mood on
the street – a resounding NO!
The campaign trail
started just outside of Dundalk, where the ad van got into its new referendum
clothes. After a quick turn - around, the team were back on the road to head
towards Dundalk, somewhere I visited on my previous visit to Ireland. Extra
corex boards were placed, although the area was dominated with boards calling
for the no vote.
With the fantastic
weather, Dundalk was full of people, especially people who were keen to take
our leaflets and discuss the upcoming treaty vote. Many people on the ground
are disappointed about the lack of information, or biased information that they
seem to be receiving.
The team moved on towards
Drogheda, managing to secure corex boards and distribute literature in the
area.
Without stopping to catch
for breath, we headed for our last destination of the day – Dublin. The team
will head back to Dublin for the vote day on Thursday, but we arrived at a busy
time and was able to distribute leaflets with ease. Taxi drivers were keen to
stop and talk about how they feel about the upcoming treaty, and their
reluctance to believe that they won’t be made to vote again if there is a no
vote.
I have a video diary to
post, and this will be uploaded ASAP. In the meanwhile, I will leave you with
these photos of the day:
The team will move onto
the next stage tomorrow as they move on towards Limerick.
