The Irish Alliance for Europe campaign group, the Business Alliance, held their first Information Roadshow on the Lisbon Treaty in Cork on Monday night.

The event, the first of nine information evenings to be held across the country, was organised to help communicate what the Lisbon Treaty is all about and why it benefits Ireland, Irish business and employment.

Members of the public in attendance were addressed at the roadshow by Pat Cox former President of the European Parliament and Spokesperson for the Alliance and Declan Walsh, lecturer in European Union Law at the Faculty of Law, University College Cork.

Speaking at the meeting Pat Cox said that accepting the treaty would be important for Irish business. "This Treaty will provide an anchor of substance and continuity for Irish business and workers to better secure our future economic success. Predictability and policy continuity have been an indispensable part of our economic success both as a reliable strategic ally for partner states and for foreign direct investment. This is not a time financially or economically to begin a policy drift by weighing anchor and pulling away psychologically or politically from one of the pillars of our modern success, full engagement with Europe," he said. Mr Cox added that a yes to the Lisbon Treaty on June 12 will send a strong signal that Ireland remains at the centre of Europe. "Our membership of the EU contributed significantly to Ireland's economic success over the last 15 years. The introduction of the euro and enlargement of the EU to the east provided Ireland's economy with both stability and vast new markets to exploit. The Lisbon Treaty builds on these successful initiatives."

Meanwhile Declan Walsh said that the Treaty recognised that the Union needs to be more democratic and transparent. "The European Council will meet and vote in public, allowing us to hold our ministers accountable for how they vote in Brussels. The Lisbon Treaty clearly demonstrates that we do not have to make a choice between a more efficient and effective EU or a more democratic EU. We can have both. This Treaty gives us both"

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