The results of an opinion poll published this morning indicate that more than half the electorate will vote for the Nice Treaty in the June referendum. The MRBI survey for the Irish Times shows 52% in favour of the treaty with 21% against, while 28% offered no opinion.
Some 37% of those interviewed indicated they had some knowledge of what the treaty is about but 62% said they knew little or nothing of the issues involved. On the two other referenda to be held on the same day, 55% said they supported the removal of the death penalty from The Constitution, while almost two thirds were in favour of Ireland's involvement in the International Criminal Court.
The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, said yesterday that it would be disastrous if Ireland were to opt out of the future development of the EU. Mr Ahern said that those campaigning against the Nice Treaty were ideological bedfellows of the Tory Euro-sceptics. He was speaking at the launch of the Fianna Fáil referendum campaign.
Mr Ahern's broadside against the "No" campaign was all-embracing. The Greens, Christian Solidarity and Sinn Féin were singled out as long-term opponents of Ireland's EU membership. However, he was particularly scathing of the Republican movement's position on neutrality. Their attachment to it, he said, had been of very recent vintage.
