This is a day which is literally without precedent in the history of Ireland. In the Republic the people go to the polls to determine the future shape of its fundamental political relationships, with Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom on the one hand, with the European Union on the other. And in Northern Ireland, the electorate is asked to vote on the Belfast Agreement which proposes new relationships within these islands as well as new internal political structures.
In the referendums on the Belfast Agreement, the people north and south have an opportunity to determine the character of their society - not just for themselves but, assuredly, for generations to come. In the referendum on the Amsterdam Treaty, the people of the Republic have the power to define the nature of their future relationship with the European Union at a time of the most immense change across the continent. It is to be hoped that people will come out in record numbers to vote on the Belfast Agreement; the issues have been well ventilated in the media. Few voters can have been left in any doubt about the choice that they face. The omens are encouraging. Yet there is a danger that the overwhelming level of support for the agreement in the Republic - which has risen steadily in the opinion polls - could lead to a certain complacency; a sense among some voters that one single vote will hardly matter. If so, this is a dangerous notion. The right to vote is a precious one and failure to exercise it would represent the most serious dereliction of civic duty in the particular circumstances of this democratic test.
In contrast to the Belfast Agreement, the referendum campaign on the Amsterdam Treaty has been low-key. There has been no shortage of comment and analysis, but on the basis of the last opinion poll, a significant number of voters still don't know and don't care. Thirty per cent of the electorate said that they had no opinion on the treaty, some 43 per cent said that the treaty will make no difference to them personally. Thirteen per cent of those polled said that they may not vote at all.
The Government's decision to hold the Amsterdam Treaty referendum on the same day as that on the Belfast Agreement has backfired: the Amsterdam Treaty referendum has been dwarfed by that on the agreement in much the same way that the issues in the debate on cabinet confidentiality were obscured when the referendum was held on the same day as the presidential election. It is to be hoped that there will be no recurrence of the pattern evident on that occasion when a small but significant minority of voters - exasperated by the complexity of the issue - decided to spoil their vote on cabinet confidentiality.
The issues in the Amsterdam Treaty are complex but they are no less important. And there is no shortage of information and explanation for those who require it. Too many have simply not bothered. At heart, the treaty concerns the nature and scope of European integration after the end of the Cold War. This State, and all its people, will be keenly affected by these developments on our continent. Each and every voter must be at the polling stations today.