No vote on Lisbon Treaty would be disastrous - Ahern

The Taoiseach said today that a No vote on the Lisbon Treaty would be disastrous for the country.

Speaking after the 1916 Easter Rising Commemoration in Dublin today, Mr Ahern said that failure to pass the Treaty would have repercussions that “will damage us”.

He said the biggest beneficiaries of the Treaty would be the farming community.

"I just hope the agricultural community quickly turns around its attitude and gets people behind the Lisbon agenda,” he added.

The Taoiseach's remarks came on a day when a new poll showing a drop of support for the Lisbon Treaty has been described as unsurprising by the Government.

The Red C poll in today's Sunday Business Postshows 35 per cent of the electorate plan to vote Yes to the treaty in the June 12th referendum, with 31 per cent intending to vote No.

The Yes support is a drop of eight per cent since the last Red C poll three months ago. Some 34 per cent of the 1,000 people canvassed said they were undecided, which is unchanged from the previous poll.

The survey says the drop in support is most marked among farmers. Support for the Treaty remains strong among Fianna Fáil members, men and younger voters.

Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche said the poll results were disappointing but “not entirely surprising”.

“Recent events - and particularly the farmers’ march - were bound to have an impact,” Mr Roche said. “But it is still very early days in the campaign and it is very much all to play for.” He said the “political campaign proper” will get under way once the Referendum Bill is passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas.

The Lisbon Treaty is supported by all the major political parties bar Sinn Féin.

Fine Gael’s foreign affairs spokesman Billy Timmins said the poll findings were a “wake-up call” to political parties and organisations supporting the Treaty.

“It’s vitally important that those advocating a Yes vote should refrain from slagging off opponents and from responding to the No agenda, and should concentrate instead on setting out the detail of what is in the Treaty and how it will benefit the Irish people,” he said. “Seeking to push the European Project down the throats of people is not the way to win hearts and minds,” Mr Timmins added.

Labour’ European Affairs spokesman Joe Costello accused the Government of running a lacklustre campaign in the run-up to the election.  "People are frustrated with the shortage of good quality information,” he said. “In the absence of adequate information they are inclined to register a negative response or a ‘don’t know’ response.”

Last week, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the electorate should resist the temptation to use the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty to "give the Government a political bloody nose".

Sinn Féin's Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald today claimed the poll results showed supporters of the Treaty have been unable to convince voters that ratifying it would have any benefit for Ireland.

“No amount of veiled threats and talking up of this Treaty by European and Irish political institutions can disguise the simple fact that it does not address the economic and social needs of Europe,” she said. “The Lisbon Treaty is a bad deal for Ireland, for Europe and for the wider world. We deserve better.”

Former Green MEP and No campaigner Patricia McKenna accused Treaty advocates of misleading the electorate, particularly on the taxation issue. She claimed this was a "deliberate conspiracy between our own political establishment and the political elite of Europe."

However, the non-party Alliance For Europe said it was confident the electorate would "see through the shoal of red herrings being floated by No side".

“It is clear that there is a lot of work to do, but as people inform themselves on the facts of the Treaty they will be able to see through the lies being spun by the No side,” said Alliance Director Brendan Kiely. He accused anti-Treaty group Libertas and Sinn Féin of “trotting out” inaccuracies about the implications of the Treaty on Ireland’s neutrality, foreign investment and future role in European decision-making.

Libertas, the organisation founded by Galway businessman Declan Ganley, has argued that the Lisbon Treaty contains provisions that could be used to change the Republic's corporate tax rate.  Last weekend, aviation entrepreneur Ulick McEvaddy mentioned the tax rate issue when he announced he was publicly backing the Libertas campaign against the treaty.

Ireland is alone among the European Union's 25 member states in holding a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

The poll also put support for Fianna Fáil at 38 per cent, up by 3 per cent since the last Red C survey a month ago. Fine Gael was down one point at 29 per cent, while Labour's support fell by the same margin to 10 per cent. Support for the Greens was unchanged at eight per cent.

Sinn Féin dropped two points to seven per cent, while the Progressive Democrats support doubled to two per cent.