The Tánaiste has said that an opinion poll indication that more than one quarter of voters still do not know how they intend to vote in the Nice Treaty referendum next Thursday is "worrying". In a statement today, Mary Harney said that she hoped that from this weekend on, many more people would focus on the Treaty.
There has also been a significant fall in support for the Nice Treaty, according to the opinion poll. Backing for the Treaty has dropped seven points to about 45%, whereas the opposition to the Treaty has risen by seven points to 28%.
There is less than a week to go before the referendum. The main political parties have spent the past two weeks pressing home their message that the Treaty is about the enlargement of the European Union to include countries of Eastern Europe. However, it is the No campaigners who are making headway, according to this poll, with their argument that the Treaty means erosion of neutrality, bringing Ireland closer to NATO and to a European army.
The poll suggests that the outcome will be close. In the other referenda to be held on Thursday, the poll shows 64% backing Ireland's ratification of the International Criminal Court, with 13% against. A total of 51% support the removal of the death penalty from the Constitution, with three in ten voters opposed.
