The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, visits Helsinki and Stockholm today for discussions on European Union issues with the Prime Ministers of Finland and Sweden. The main purpose of the meetings is to discuss the contents of two declarations on Irish neutrality in advance of the EU summit in Seville on June 21st-22nd.
An Irish declaration will state that there is no threat to the traditional policy of military neutrality in the Nice Treaty or in any other EU text.
The Government is seeking a joint declaration from its EU partners affirming that none of the Community treaties, including Nice, affects Irish neutrality.
Mr Ahern will visit Vienna next Wednesday for similar discussions with the Austrian Prime Minister.
The neutrality declarations are part of the Government's attempt to ensure the passage of the Nice Treaty in a second referendum.
Spain currently holds the EU Presidency, and Mr Ahern met the Spanish Prime Minister, Mr José Maria Aznar, in Dublin last Friday. The Spanish leader said that the EU would work hard to address Irish "sensitivities" on neutrality.
A Government statement last night said that the incoming administration was "committed to vigorously pursuing Ireland's interests in the EU".
European issues will also be on the agenda of Mr Ahern's meeting with the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, at the British-Irish Council in Jersey this Friday.
The Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats programme for government pledged to submit the Nice Treaty to a referendum later this year "in a way which seeks to address the concerns of the people as expressed during previous referendums and in the National Forum on Europe".