Ahern seeks consensus on wording for treaty

The Taoiseach will proceed with the wording for the Amsterdam Treaty referendum only when it can be agreed by the five main parties in the Dail. Mr Ahern made this commitment to the leaders of Fine Gael and Democratic Left, Mr John Bruton and Mr Proinsias De Rossa, during separate meetings aimed at reaching a broad consensus on the wording of the amendment last night.

No indication was given, however, as to whether the Government would be prepared to drop, or amend, the controversial clause allowing the State to exercise "the options or discretions" provided by EU treaties in order to reach agreement.

The Dail debate on the Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill has been postponed for a second time. It will not be debated next week, as planned.

The Taoiseach strongly asserted the legal necessity for a discretionary clause to avoid the risk of constitutional challenge and successive referendums on the opt-in clauses in the Amsterdam Treaty.

During a half-hour meeting, Mr Bruton told the Taoiseach that he had an "open mind" about the inclusion or exclusion of the options and discretions clause in the amendment.

He asked for a written elaboration of the Government's reasons for including that particular wording in its proposed amendment; and for an explanation of the practical consequences of withdrawing it.

At a 50-minute meeting between the Taoiseach, the Attorney General and Mr De Rossa, it was agreed that the Government's legal advice would be provided to the DL leader on a confidential basis.

Making the case for dividing the proposed amendment into two questions, Mr De Rossa argued that the primacy of the Constitution had to be recognised. Where people were voting on something that could be in conflict with the Constitution, the proposal should be put to them in explicit form rather than the Government seeking "a blank cheque".

Meanwhile, Government sources seemed at a loss last night to understand how the three former Rainbow coalition parties which had negotiated the Amsterdam Treaty could query a wording that, in their view, would give full effect to it.