[caption id="attachment_71871" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Mary Lou McDonald delivered "no" argument in contentious TV debate."]
TENSIONS over the forthcoming EU fiscal treaty referendum have spilled over in a televised debate that saw both supporters and opponents of a "yes" vote clash.
This week's RTÉ debate was a rowdy affair, with audience members and participants, loudly shouting each other down during the course of
the show. The main cause of consternation was whether the Republic will be able to access the
European Stability Mechanism should a "no" vote prevail, with Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore warning that the ESM would be the only source of cash available
if Ireland needs yet another bailout.
This was denied by leading "no" campaigner Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Féin, who has denied this would be the case and has argued that negotiations could take place in the event of another bailout being necessary.
However, Mr. Gilmore slammed such notions as "fairytale solutions" to Ireland's economic and fiscal woes.
"If this country does not get back into the markets at the end of 2013 and we need emergency money to pay for hospitals, schools and welfare, the only source of that funding will be the ESM. If we reject the treaty we are heading into the unknown," he said.
Meanwhile, People Before Profit TD and "no" campaigner, Richard Boyd Barret, has claimed that Ireland's EU ties are "secure" no matter what the outcome of the May 31 referendum.
Although not part of the RTÉ debate, Boyd Barrett said if it was unlikely that Greece would leave the eurozone, then Ireland was definitely staying put.
