What Happened When Libertas and Their Czech Mate Sat Down to Dinner...

The controversial dinner party hosted by Libertas founder Declan Ganley in honour of the outspoken Czech President Václav Klaus was regarded as a contentious event in the diplomatic sphere. And in many ways it was: Klaus certainly shows scant regard for what are considered diplomatic niceties. But the reaction in these circles paled in comparison to the media furore that the soiree subsequently sparked, both domestically and internationally.

In a way, the reasons are obvious. Vaclav Klaus’ role is similar to that of the Irish president. Given that the Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek – who will lead the Czech EU presidency – recently said he hoped parliament would ratify the treaty by the end of the year, the reaction to Klaus’ intervention is akin to what we might expect if Mary McAleese began to campaign on the Lisbon Treaty in a way that was obviously at odds with current Government policy. But the extent of the coverage, and the underlying assumptions it reflected, were bizarre nonetheless.
The Irish Times went so far as to print the dinner menu and the entire list of people who attended what was intended as a private function in the ‘Great Room’ at the Shelbourne Hotel. When I received my invitation, I never envisaged my name would appear in the “paper of record” alongside the 95 people who attended! The paper also actually flagged certain names – including yours truly – on the grounds we were perceived as “leading opponents of the EU integration, anti-abortion campaigners and prominent figures in the Irish news media.”
Thankfully, I wasn’t labelled as an “anti-abortion” campaigner or anti-EU – I have never publicly ground an axe on either front!– but instead was listed in the latter category alongside the likes of Eamon Dunphy, Bruce Arnold and the Sunday Times editor Frank Fitzgibbon, who later commented: “Not since Sidney Poitier was brought home to meet Spencer Tracy in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner has an evening meal prompted such controversy... ”
The evening turned out to be an extravagant occasion, with no expense spared by the multi-millionaire Ganley and his Libertas organisation. But if you were to believe some reports, the dinner reception itself – which was subsequently described as a “sinister” event by one letter writer in the Irish Times – was nothing more than a glorified Right Wing rally.
This is sheer nonsense. I can confirm that nobody attending was attired in Nazi garb, nor did they give a one-arm salute when the guest of honour made his appearance. Nor, it should go without saying, was everyone in the room necessarily in agreement with the Libertas agenda.

THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE
The night began with a champagne reception. Subsequently, President Klaus was preceded into the banquet room by a pipe player. Ganley, who recently admitted in a Hot Press interview that he’s a staunch Roman Catholic, invited a priest, Fr Michael Ross, to say ‘grace’, before the assembled guests tucked into the meal of house-cured Irish salmon for starters, followed by grilled tenderloin steak and vanilla crème brulee. Wine flowed freely all evening. Afterwards, the guests were entertained by chamber music and a troupe of set-dancers.
Inevitably, both Ganley and the Czech President made speeches afterwards. While Ganley’s speech was leaked onto the internet the next day, nobody has actually documented what Klaus said in that room – until now.
With the Czech Republic taking over the EU presidency from the French in January, Klaus took the opportunity to make it absolutely clear that he personally would not be pushing for the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. On the contrary...
Rising to speak, the Czech President was greeted with a thunderous applause. “What should I say? First – I agree with Mr Ganley. I agree with the three words he’s (Ganley) stressing here – democracy, accountability and transparency. This is really our programme, our philosophy and our way of thinking as well. So, those three words I feel very strongly about,” he said, in near-perfect English.
If others might be inclined to give a significant share of the responsibility for defeating Lisbon to Sinn Fein, the anti-war movement and other leftist forces, or even to the Irish government themselves on the basis of their poorly orchestrated Yes campaign, President Klaus saw it first and foremost as a Libertas victory.
“I think it’s necessary to say openly, Mr Ganley, that we, your friends, colleagues and the Irish people, we thank you very much for what you did for all of us, for all of Europe.”
He then spoke about how the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty referendum was a “great” result to celebrate. Klaus reminisced about how he had celebrated the French electorate’s rejection of the treaty – in its previous incarnation as the EU Constitution – some three years ago.
“I remember we celebrated the result of the referendum in a Czech pub with friends of mine. Some of them are here,” he said, looking around the room. He spoke about wanting to celebrate the Irish result in a similar fashion in the very same pub – but, unfortunately, he was recovering from a hip operation at the time and could not walk.
Klaus added that “those in Brussels” – he name checked several EU presidents and prime ministers who are pro-Lisbon Treaty – “pretend that they are the owners of the keys to Europe”.

FRIENDS AND COLLABORATORS
He continued: “They are not. We are – the people of Ireland, the people of the Czech Republic, Austria, Denmark, and other countries. As I said yesterday during the official State dinner here, the slogan of the Czech presidency is really to come back to the European integration which means opening up, liberalisation, removing all the barriers. So, the slogan of the EU Presidency will be that we try to suggest a Europe without barriers... without oppressive barriers created by the bureaucrat.
“We feel very strong on these issues because of our past and specifically our Communist past; we have a special sensitivity to the words democracy, accountability and transparency. This is what we were fighting for.”
He noted that it’s exactly 19 years since the Velvet Revolution, which saw the Czechs overthrow the Communist regime. “I must say that when I compare my expectations on the day after the Velvet Revolution in my country with the reality in Europe these days, I must say it’s a disappointment. We are less free – Europe is less democratic than we expected,” he said.
Klaus went on to say that other Eastern European countries should be more outspoken when it comes to expressing views on EU issues and debates in Brussels.
“I’m sorry that we don’t find as many friends and collaborators in other post-Communist countries. In this respect, the Czech Republic is almost alone. There is someone from Poland who might say, ‘We have similar feelings!’ Nevertheless, we don’t feel sufficient support,” he said.
Ending his speech, Klaus acknowledged that “you can’t chair the EU with my views.” Then referring to the Czech’s forthcoming EU presidency, Klaus mused: “What to do in the next six months? You showed us that something can be done and we thank you very much. We’ll try to follow up. We will try to do something similar in our country.”
Listening, it was impossible not to conclude that the Lisbon Treaty saga will rumble on for some considerable time to come.