Employers' body Ibec has welcomed the latest poll on the Lisbon Treaty which shows support for the Lisbon Treaty has increased significantly since January.
The
Irish Times/TNS mrbi poll showed that 35 per cent of voters intend to vote Yes in the referendum on June 12th, a nine-point rise since the last
Irish Timespoll at the end of January, while the number intending to vote No is 18 per cent, up eight points.
"The more people become aware of the facts of the Treaty the more they see through the myths of the no campaign and know that Ireland's prosperity is secured in a Europe that works better," said Ibec's director of EU and international affairs Brendan Butler
However, there are still a large number of undecided voters, with 47 per cent saying they either don't know how they will vote, or say they won't vote. This is a fall from the 64 per cent who were undecided in January.
Meanwhile, Labour Party spokesman on European affairs, Joe Costello, said the poll results provided grounds for "cautious optimism" but warned against complacency in the Yes campaign.
"There is still a huge body of undecided voters, amounting to almost 50 per cent of the electorate largely, I believe, because they have not yet been reached be either side. The challenge for those of us campaigning for a yes vote is to convince them of the real of the benefits of the Lisbon Reform Treaty.," he said.
He warned that the challenge would be getting those who were positive about the EU and the Lisbon Treaty but were not passionate about it to come out to vote on June 12th. "The real danger is of a low poll that does not accurate reflect national opinion," he said.
Meanwhile, the Irish Alliance for Europe welcomed the poll results, saying it showed a clear momentum towards a Yes vote, but said there was still much work to be done.