Madam, - Stephen Collins (Inside Politics, March 8th) is right to draw attention to the disadvantages that flow from the Government's delay in naming a date for the Lisbon Treaty referendum. However, the delay has one major advantage: it provides an opportunity for the Taoiseach and the Government to deal boldly with people's misgivings about their lack of understanding of the issues by announcing that the referendum will be held on a named date in October. This would give maximum time for discussion and debate to all parties and groups, and to the electorate.
Research has shown clearly that lack of knowledge of the issues and/or lack of confidence in that knowledge were major factors in the defeat of the proposal to ratify the Nice Treaty in the first referendum - and that substantial improvements on both fronts secured victory for the Yes side in the second referendum.
The objection may be raised that people would become bored with the issue. This is wrong-headed. EU treaty changes should not be exciting and, if they are, they are probably bad. So a bit of boredom may be a good thing and should not cause people to stay at home.
On the other hand, not knowing what's going on will cause abstention; and it was abstention on a large scale that gave victory to the No side in the first Nice referendum. An October date would also facilitate higher turnout by disposing of the mundane but significant problem of a time clash with exams and a major holiday period.
From whichever side one approaches it, this issue is too important - for Ireland and for Europe - not to give the debate and the necessary preparations for it the maximum time possible and not to do everything possible to inform people and to allay people's anxieties about their understanding of the issues. - Yours, etc,
Prof RICHARD SINNOTT,
UCD,
Dublin 4.