Ahern hits out at 'false claims' of anti-Nice side

The Taoiseach, Mr Bertie Ahern, today said claims by opponents of the Nice Treaty that voting `Yes¿ to Nice would allow thousands of people from applicant states to come here to work were "spurious" and "false".

Speaking today at the publication of the Institute for European Affairs Document on Europe, the Taoiseach said, "from the claims by the `No' side, one would have the impression of thousands of Eastern Europeans waiting with bated breath for enlargement to take place, having chartered ships and planes to come to Ireland as soon as possible to take our jobs.

"This claim is simply not true. . . . The countries which are more likely to receive Eastern European immigrants are those such as Germany and Austria that border the new member states, and those where larger numbers of citizens from candidate countries already reside," he said.

He said: "The `No' side seem insistent on raising irrelevant, emotive, and false claims about what will happen if we vote `Yes'".

At one stage during the speech Mr Ahern called Nice a relatively "simple treaty". However, he later said "many [people] said they did not vote because they were confused.

"Confusion did reign, and the responsibility for that lies with all those charged with leadership, both the politicians and the social partners" Mr Ahern said.

The Institute for European Affairs has published a series of 12 pamphlets entitled The Nice Treaty and Enlargement - explaining the issuesdetailing the link between the Nice Treaty and enlargement of the EU.