The pan-European political group of Declan Ganley, Libertas, will again fight for a No vote in the upcoming Lisbon Treaty referendum. This group originally was established to highlight how the red-tape in Brussels was holding back the business and politics of Europe. It later opposed the Lisbon Treaty on the basis that it claimed Ireland would lose its democratic influence in Europe. It also claimed that countries would be threatened with tax harmonisation, particularly Ireland’s low 12.5% tax rate which many believe was the single most important factor in creating Ireland‘s boom years.
Libertas correctly points out that a second vote being forced on Irish people is a spectacularly undemocratic move, and that the European parliament is unwieldy and unresponsive to its people. However one of the most frustrating experiences in life is seeing a good cause being pushed by a bad advocate, and the media seem to exploit this to defame every oppositional group and individual to the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland. The media have found it easy to demonise the Lisbon Treaty No campaign because of the controversy surrounding Declan Ganley and his party since its inception in 2008. Much has been written regarding this millionaire’s known business links to the American military industry and some politicians rave that he is a puppet of shady CIA elements in a conspiracy to thwarted the growth of a powerful European state to counter the United States! As David Cronin points out, the media will continue to label Ganley as the leader of the no campaign in Ireland despite there being a greater representation of left-wing parties and figures comprising the opposition.
Libertas may not be working on behalf of the American government yet by focusing on this the media is ignoring the most important aspects regarding the rise of this group: Libertas is a euro-sceptic group of nationalists working to establish a pan-rightist bloc in Europe by tapping into the growing disenchantment over the economy. To this end Ganley has no qualms about buying allies, bribing others, standing with the most socially backward forces in Ireland and most worryingly befriending some of the most extreme far-right groups and individuals in Europe.
In the early stages of the formation of his group the right-wing reactionary nature of Libertas was highlighted when Ganley allied himself with some of the most socially conservative elements in Europe. While attending a panel discussion at a conference in Ballaghaderreen in Co Roscommon set up by the Catholic John Paul II Society and by the pro-life Human Life International, Ganley proclaimed his opposition to abortion, and same-sex marriages. More recently the Libertas candidate for Ireland East, Raymond O’Malley stated his opinion that the borders should be closed on the island to all fellow workers from EU states.
Although Ganley claims his party is not a euro-sceptic one and that he only wishes to reform the institutions across the EU, it is clear that he aims to push a extremely right-wing agenda onto the genuine complaints people have regarding demorcacy and society under the EU. His bedfellows in France also are indicative of this party’s far-right interests. The Movement for France (MPF) and Frédéric Nihous’s Hunting, Fishing, Nature and Tradition (CPNT) party came together recently to form a union under the libertas ‘.eu’ brand that Ganley is pushing for in Europe. The head of the Movement for France, Philippe de Villiers has called for the banning of Mosque construction in France and has been labelled a far-right figure by the media for his views on social issues and Islam. Mr de Villiers repeatedly praised Ganley as a ‘hero’ at the press conference announcing their new union.
Another less vilified figure to ally their selves with Libertas was the former Solidarity union leader Lech Walesa. At a Libertas party rally in Rome Walesa appeared and spoke of his hope for the success of the Libertas platform but this was overshadowed when it was revealed by a Libertas Polska official that Walesa was paid 100,000 euros for the endorsement. Polska Radio Online reports that:
“The nationwide daily Rzeczpospolita publishes a survey on Lech Walesa’s participation at Libertas’ conventions, conducted by Gfk Polonia. According to the survey, 34 percent of Poles think Walesa’s connections with Libertas damage the image of Poland abroad. The same amount of respondents claim they also spoil the image of the Solidarity icon himself. Forty seven percent of Poles condemn Walesa for taking large amounts appearance money from Libertas.”
Gazeta Wyborcza, the left-leaning and second largest selling Polish newspaper published an article entitled “How Walesa Is Disgracing Walesa.“ It claims that “this ambassador” of peaceful democracy and justice is now disgracing the Polish people. He is blackening his reputation adnt hat of the Poles by appearing at euro-sceptic rallies that are basically umbrella groupings “for nationalists and populists. And he takes money for it.”It continues that “Neither hostile IPN prosecutors or historians such as Mr Cenckiewicz, Mr Gontarczyk, or Mr Zyzak, nor the Kaczynski brothers can do as much damage to Mr Walesa as Mr Walesa himself.”
Offsetting any complaints that Wales’s ‘bribes’ were an aberration, the Irish Times ran a story about how Sören Wibe, leader of Junilistan (The June List), “claims that representatives from anti-Lisbon Treaty party Libertas offered considerable sums of money, including almost €1 million on one occasion, if his party agreed to change its name to Junilistan-Libertas“ Wibe explained how he was shocked by the “extremely unethical” nature of the overtures to his party made by Declan Gnaley. He stated that he was “insulted” by the offer of such money for political favour, and that “It goes against everything we stand for.”
The fact is that Libertas could be a growing problem for Europeans. The party runs on a moderate platform but employs the most reactionary of ideologies and groups in Europe to pursue its goals. And according to the internet traffic ranking website alexa.com, Libertas websites are the most frequently searched sites of any political grouping in Europe. Under these circumstances it is more than necessary to explore every facets of Ganley and his party. For example the growing anti-Semitism and racism in Poland today seems to permit a fertile breeding gorund for Ganley’s party.
The Polish branch of Libertas is being organised by a group of rightwing figures who previously had left some far right political groupings after failing for years to gain significant political support. Piotr Farfal, for example, is head of public broadcasting in Poland and has significant links to the far-right League of Polish Families and even openly admits that in his youth he was a neo-Nazi. This figure has been facing criticisms for giving Libertas such positive coverage during Ganley’s recent visit to the country, including the firing of a news presenter who refused to devote a large time to interviewing the Irish businessman and the interruption of regular schedules to cover the Libertas press conference.
As the Prague Post points out:
“All key figures were previously associated with anti-EU, Christian fundamentalist and nationalist movements, pushing to sharpen Polish anti-abortion legislation (which is already one of the most stringent in Europe), ban prostitution, restore the death penalty and make Poland's economy fully self-sufficient. Ironically, the same globalization they so despise allowed Polish nationalists to receive financial support from an Irish millionaire“
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