Co-operation between the North and the Republic set up under the Belfast Agreement would be undermined by plans to enlarge the European Union, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams warned today.
His party is campaigning for a no vote in the upcoming referendum on ratification of the plans - enshrined in the Nice Treaty - which is expected to take place on June 7.
The treaty paves the way for EU enlargement and must be ratified by the 15 EU parliaments and the European Parliament by the end of 2002.
Mr Adams said the referendum was of "huge importance" to people living on both sides of the Irish border.
He said: "It would be a tragedy if the increasing All-Ireland co-operation, which is developing on many levels under the Good Friday Agreement, were to be undermined by the Treaty of Nice, whose provisions for a two-class EU create a further potential division between the two sides of the border.
"Will we find one side of the border in the first division of states and the other side of the border in the second division? The Treaty of Nice creates that very real prospect."
The treaty lays out reforms in preparation for a dozen states, mostly in eastern Europe, to join the EU and also deals with the necessary changes to the allocation of votes in an enlarged union.
It also allows for further co-operation between some members states on certain issues while other countries opt out - creating the so-called 'two-speed' Europe.
Mr Adams said: "Sinn Féin will be campaigning vigorously for a ‘no' vote in the Treaty of Nice because we believe it paves the way for the creation of an EU superstate with its own army dominated by the larger countries.
"Something which will move us fundamentally away from the idea of the EU as a partnership of equals and further erode Irish neutrality."
On June 7, voters are likely to face simultaneous referenda on the Nice Treaty, the abolition of references to the death penalty in the constitution and Ireland's participation with the international criminal court.
PA