Irish foe of EU treaty launches low-key campaign

Irish businessman Declan Ganley, the leader of the Irish No campaign, launches Libertas, a pan-European party at a news conference in Brussels December 11, 2008.

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Declan Ganley's second campaign against Ireland ratifying the European Union's reform treaty will be more low key than last year, the millionaire businessman said on Sunday, as he formally launched his "No" offensive.

A leading force in Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in 2008, Ganley enters this year's debate as opinion polls show support for the charter is strong with less than three weeks to go before an October2 plebiscite.

After failing in an expensive bid to create a pan-European political party and win a seat for himself to the European Parliament in June, Ganley said resources this time were tighter.

"We will not be running a campaign like the last Lisbon campaign," Ganley, flanked by the flags of Ireland and the European Union, told a news conference in Dublin.

"The resources that we have are miniscule in comparison to the 'Yes' side."

Ganley, who describes himself as pro-Europe, will start fund-raising on Monday and hopes to generate a fund of between 50,000 and 200,000 euros for billboards, posters and newspaper advertising.

The "Yes" side has attracted strong financial support in Ireland with Intel's Irish operation pledging to spend "a few hundreds of thousands of euros" on supporting a thumbs up for the treaty.

Ganley and the finances of his Libertas political party are a source of controversy in Ireland.

He said he felt compelled to re-enter the Lisbon debate because of what he described as the "fallacies" of the "Yes" side's arguments.

The treaty, intended to give Brussels a greater voice on the world stage, needs an Irish "Yes" to take effect and a second rejection would plunge the 27-member block into crisis and destabilise the Irish government, putting a question mark over Dublin's ability to deal with twin banking and fiscal crises.

Earlier this month, an opinion poll showed support for the charter, which gives Europe a president, a foreign policy chief and a diplomatic corps, was falling but two surveys over the weekend put the "Yes" camp firmly in the lead.

A poll in the Sunday Business Post showed 62 percent voting in favour of the charter while the Sunday Independent survey put the "Yes" side at 63 percent.

(Reporting by Carmel Crimmins)