Proponents On 27 May,
Taoiseach Enda Kenny appealed to voters to support the referendum in order to contribute to a recovery from Ireland's financial crisis. "This treaty strengthens the economic and budgetary rules that apply to countries like Ireland that use the euro. It will create stability in the euro zone that is essential for growth and job creation. A strong yes vote will create the certainty and stability that our country needs to continue on the road to economic recovery."
Opponents The No Campaign referred to it as the Austerity Treaty.
Sinn Féin leader
Gerry Adams promising to lead a "strong anti-treaty campaign" to stop what he described as a pact that would worsen the Irish government's "terrible policy of austerity." On 29 February 2012,
Éamon Ó Cuív resigned as
Fianna Fáil's Deputy leader and Communications spokesperson due to dissatisfaction with his party's position on the referendum. He vowed to vote against the treaty and said "joining a badly designed monetary union had cost Ireland... the people of Europe do not agree that there is only one way forward." Fianna Fáil party whip
Seán Ó Fearghaíl then sent Ó Cuív a letter which put a gag on him during the referendum campaign for speaking out of turn and expressing his own opinion against the party's wishes.
Debates TV3 hosted the first live televised debate concerning the European Fiscal Compact referendum. It was an hour-long debate, hosted by
Vincent Browne, and airing on 1 May at 21:00. Sinn Féin deputy president
Mary Lou McDonald and
Joe Higgins of the
Socialist Party put the case for a No vote, and while
Fianna Fáil leader
Micheál Martin and agriculture minister
Simon Coveney of
Fine Gael called on viewers to vote Yes. Taoiseach Enda Kenny refused to participate in the debate, citing comments made previously by the host.
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore also declined to join the debate.
Lucinda Creighton and
Clare Daly appeared on
Prime Time while the TV3 debate was happening. A debate held on
The Frontline on 21 May 2012 descended into chaos. Celebrity "Dragon" Norah Casey and Tánaiste
Eamon Gilmore represented "Yes", while
Declan Ganley and Sinn Féin deputy leader
Mary Lou McDonald represented "No". At one stage presenter
Pat Kenny shouted down a farmer in the audience who was advocating a No vote. A 45-minute debate, this time "strictly marshalled" by
Richard Crowley, was held on
Prime Time on 29 May 2012. Fianna Fáil director of elections
Timmy Dooley and Labour's
Joan Burton represented "Yes", while the Socialist Party's
Clare Daly and Sinn Féin deputy leader
Mary Lou McDonald represented "No". Following
Richard Bruton's gaffe on live radio (see below), Joan Burton declined repeated attempts to have her say whether Labour would agree to a second referendum in the event of the "No" side prevailing.
Notable moments On 19 April 2012, the government launched a website offering information about the treaty. Having claimed that this was a neutral source of information, the government came under pressure to remove some content from the site which explicitly called for a Yes vote. When questioned why, in light of the ruling in the
Patricia McKenna case that it was unconstitutional for the government to spend public money to promote one side of a referendum debate, the government was launching a website which contained partisan material, Minister
Leo Varadkar replied that as they had launched the website before moving the writ to formally call the referendum, the ruling did not apply. The government was also criticised for diverting millions of euro to fund this website and related leaflet drop from the budget of the
Referendum Commission whose role it is to provide unbiased information on referendums in Ireland. On 16 May, Minister for Finance
Michael Noonan caused controversy with a comment of Greek "holidays" and "
feta cheese" at a breakfast briefing with
Bloomberg news agency. Noonan said these were the only links between Ireland and Greece. On 17 May, Taoiseach Enda Kenny was heckled and booed by opponents of the compact in Galway as he attended a breakfast briefing. Later that day, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
Richard Bruton let slip on radio the possibility of there being a second referendum if the Irish people voted "No". ==Opinion polls==