A SENIOR Irish Government minister has accused opponents of the European fiscal treaty of desperate scaremongering after they lost a legal challenge over the role of an independent advisory body.

Sinn Fein attempted to secure a retraction from the Referendum Commission over remarks it made about the possibility of Ireland using a veto to block a proposed new bailout fund – the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore, Foreign Affairs Minister and deputy prime minister, said it was a last-ditch attempt to cause confusion among the public, with polling in the referendum opening tomorrow morning.

Mr Gilmore said: “I believe that this was a stunt by Sinn Fein in the final days of their campaign to maximise their own publicity and in order to create confusion just as the broadcast moratorium was about to come out.”

Read the full story here: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/fiscal-treaty/high-court-rejects-sinn-fein-referendum-commission-move-3123801.html