VZCZCXRO5230
OO RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHDL #0127 0790923
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 200923Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUBLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9895
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES  IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS DUBLIN 000127 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV EUN EI
SUBJECT: LIBERTAS LEADER TO STAND IN EUROPEAN ELECTIONS 
 
REF: DUBLIN 334 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Declan Ganley, founder of Libertas, has 
announced his candidacy for the June 2009 European Parliament 
election in Ireland.  While sharply criticizing the Irish government 
for mismanaging the economy and supporting the Lisbon Treaty, Ganley 
himself has come under pressure for refusing to reveal the source of 
funds Libertas used to successfully campaign against the Lisbon 
Treaty in June 2008.  Ganley has initiated the Libertas campaign 
with a big splash in the press, but it remains to be seen whether he 
can turn his rhetoric into votes.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) On March 14, Declan Ganley announced his candidacy for June's 
European Parliament elections in the Ireland North-West 
constituency.  Ganley, chairman of Rivada Networks, a U.S. defense 
contractor specializing in military telecom systems, is the founder 
of Libertas, which he hopes to turn into a Europe-wide party 
(reftel).  Ganley's first foray into big-time politics occurred when 
Libertas successfully campaigned against the Lisbon Treaty 
referendum in Ireland in June 2008.  Subsequently, Ganley registered 
Libertas as a political party and intends to target up to 100 seats 
in the European elections in a bid to become the first "real 
political party" in European politics.  Libertas has hired Joe 
Trippi, who ran Howard Dean's fundraising campaign in 2004, to 
develop its internet fundraising strategy. 
 
¶3.  (U) Ganley has already gone on the political offensive.  While 
the Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen was meeting President Obama in 
the White House on March 17, Ganley accused the Irish government of 
"betraying the Irish people."   He said "our Taoiseach (Prime 
Minister) is taking a breather from mismanagement of the economy to 
sell the Irish to the highest bidder."  Ganley attacked the record 
of the main (pro-Lisbon) Irish parties, stating that, "All of them 
want to raise your taxes, leaving you with less money to spend, 
leaving businesses with less income, and deepening the recession." 
He continued, saying that, "We have to wake up in this country and 
realize that being in favor of Europe does not mean being in favor 
of everything Brussels wants." 
 
¶4.  (U) Ganley has come under heavy criticism for not revealing 
Libertas's funding sources in its anti-Lisbon Treaty campaign of 
June 2008.  On March 13, the Standards in Public Office Commission 
(SIPO) reported that Libertas had failed to provide adequate 
information over the funding of the Lisbon Treaty referendum 
campaign.  Ganley had informed SIPO that he gave a personal loan of 
Euro 200,000 to help the anti-treaty campaign.  However, further 
information sought by SIPO regarding the nature of the loan was not 
provided.  The SIPO report also noted that it received no reply to 
its questions of whether Libertas received other loans and who was 
responsible for overseeing the group's political donations.  In 
response to the report, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin 
said he was "disappointed and concerned at the failure of Libertas 
to cooperate with the Commission."  In a not-so-veiled swipe at 
Ganley, the Minister of State for Europe Dick Roche said there was 
"serious external interference" in the run-up to the referendum on 
the Lisbon Treaty. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Comment:  Ganley has initiated the Libertas campaign for 
the European Parliament election with a big splash in the press. 
However, it remains to be seen whether he can turn his rhetoric into 
votes in June. 
 
FAUCHER