EU:BRIEFING EU leaders last night on the Lisbon Treaty referendum, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said the Government had commenced an "active and intensive information campaign".
Giving a summary of the Taoiseach's remarks afterwards, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said Mr Ahern had "referred to the fact that we have been picking up that there is some funding starting to come from outside Ireland to fund some of the campaign" (that is, on the No side).
The Minister explained: "I am not sure, but there is some suggestion that some party from the UK has started to help, or might want to help."
Asked if he was hinting at possible aid from the UK Independence Party to the No side, the Minister declined to elaborate, other than to say that the Taoiseach had "obliquely" referred to the issue.
The Taoiseach told his EU colleagues that the Government was distributing a "plain guide" to the treaty to every household in the State and that the Referendum Commission had also been established.
But he stressed that EU governments had "a collective responsibility" to bring the institutions closer to the citizens and ensure that "our citizens' voices are heard". In addition to economic progress it was important to "respect and develop" the social dimension. "The EU should be a leader in change," the Taoiseach said.
As regards the referendum, he said there was "no decision" made in relation to the date and that he wanted to speak with the leaders of the two main opposition parties about it.
As for the forthcoming visit by German chancellor Angela Merkel on April 14th, the Minister said the Taoiseach had invited her "some time back".
With reference to Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny's invitation to Ms Merkel to attend the European People's Party meeting in Dublin on that date, Mr Ahern said the Taoiseach had invited her first, but added: "I don't want to be petty about these things."
The Taoiseach had told his colleagues at the summit that they were at "a critical juncture in the evolution of the EU" and there were a lot of "complex and interwoven" issues to be dealt with, such as climate change and energy security.
The Lisbon Treaty was needed "to streamline the institutional framework" and give the Union "a better opportunity to act on a broader international stage".
On the World Trade Organisation talks, the Taoiseach said there should be "a balanced deal" in relation to the "core issue" for Ireland and that agriculture should not be sacrificed.
He told his colleagues in "very blunt" terms that it would make no sense if major industries, such as the cement sector, were able to move all or part of their operations outside the EU for the purpose of circumventing strict climate change conditions and then export their products back into Europe.
Asked by reporters if Chancellor Merkel's visit would be helpful to the Yes campaign on Lisbon, the Minister said: "She's a plain speaker, good at communication, people would listen to her." The chancellor was "a very impressive person".
There was "huge interest" at the summit in the Irish referendum.
"To a certain extent, everyone's looking to Ireland," the Minister said.
"We're going to fight a good campaign, a clean campaign."