A failure by voters to give a strong message of support for Eu rope by backing the Amsterdam Treaty would damage our advantageous position at the forefront of European integration, the Minister for Foreign Affairs has said.
The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, has branded the opposition to the treaty as "the ultra-left" and has also called for a Yes vote.
Mr Andrews said a vote to ratify the treaty would be a signal of Ireland's desire to participate, alongside the other democracies of Europe, in the most exciting project of international co-operation undertaken anywhere, any time. At an event to encourage young people to vote, he said anyone born in Ireland since the State joined the EEC in 1973 - 41 per cent of the population - felt both Irish and European as a natural instinct.
In Galway, Ms Harney said some people on the left had always been implacably opposed to anything to do with the EU. "They opposed our accession back in 1972 and they have opposed every single European initiative since. The ultra-left need to think again," she said.
EU membership had been positive for Ireland. "Engagement with Europe has been the very basis of the Irish economic miracle. It is no coincidence that the more deeply we have involved ourselves with Europe, the more we have prospered as a nation."
The treaty proposed no threat to Irish neutrality but stated that the EU "will seek to preserve peace and strengthen international stability and that the Union should have a new role in the field of humanitarian and peacekeeping activities".
The chairman of the Irish Council of the European Movement has called for a resounding Yes to the treaty. "The Amsterdam Treaty, while not a quantum leap forward in the process of European integration, is a positive step forward nonetheless for the people of Europe," Mr Alan Dukes said. He rejected suggestions the process of European integration simply involved successive losses of national sovereignty.
"It does require member-states to cede sovereignty," he said, "but it also gives member-states a share in sovereignty in the other member-states."
Ireland had reaped significant benefits from political and economic integration. "As the world changes, we find there are more areas where we can work more effectively through integrating."
The Democratic Left leader and vice-president of the European Movement said that as a socialist, he welcomed the integration process. Mr Proinsias De Rossa said it was needed to allow states to work together to counter the power of transnational corporations and mobile capital.
"It is important that the EU develops to be able to deal with the power being lost to global capital," he said. "We must recover some of that power, otherwise we will be swamped by the forces that are globalising." He also criticised the Green Party for "ignoring the achievements of Amsterdam in environmental and social areas".
Mr Dukes said the provisions in the Amsterdam Treaty on employment were of considerable significance and he could not under stand why "organisations purporting to represent the unemployed" were calling for a No vote.
"The treaty puts the fight against unemployment as a core element of EU policy," he said. "In effect, this will mean that when drafting any other policy areas, the EU must take into consideration its impact on employment."