The Cabinet will today consider whether to postpone the Amsterdam Treaty referendum to allow the poll on the Northern Ireland Agreement to take place on its own on May 22nd.
A number of Ministers are understood to favour separating the two votes, as running campaigns on two complex and important issues together could confuse voters and damage the prospects for the approval of both.
The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, said at the weekend that she believed the two votes should be held separately, and a number of her colleagues is understood to share this view.
However, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, is understood to favour holding both together as this would mean a higher turnout for the Amsterdam referendum, avoid the additional cost of holding separate polls and dispose of both issues before the summer.
Today is the first opportunity Ministers have had to discuss the prospect of holding the two referendums on the same day. The Cabinet has not met since April 7th, three days before the Stormont deal was made, and will meet all day and tomorrow morning to consider how to conduct the referendum campaign on the North.
The Attorney General will report to Ministers today on whether the amendments related to the agreement - of Articles 2, 3 and 29 - can legally be put to the people as one single proposal or should be divided into separate questions.
Ministers will also decide if the Referendum Commission, set up to co-ordinate information campaigns for and against the Amsterdam Treaty, will be asked to do the same for the Northern Ireland referendum. The alternative is to set up a separate commission.
While smaller opposition parties and groups opposed to the Amsterdam Treaty have called for the Amsterdam poll to be postponed, the largest two opposition parties, Fine Gael and Labour, have both said they favour holding both referendums on the same day.
A Fine Gael spokesman said last night the two issues were intertwined, and it was appropriate to hold the referendums together. "The processes of consolidating a peaceful coexistence within Northern Ireland and deepening our relationship with Europe are mutually reinforcing objectives."
Democratic Left, which supports a Yes vote in the Amsterdam referendum, has said it believes the polls should be separated. Parties and groups opposed to Amsterdam include the Green Party, Sinn Fein, the Socialist Party, represented by Mr Joe Higgins TD, and the Peace and Neutrality Alliance.
Meanwhile, the Referendum Commission will today outline its plans for the conduct of the campaign on the Amsterdam vote.
The Dail will debate the Stormont deal tomorrow and Wednesday before approving a Bill to allow the referendum to take place on May 22nd. The leaders of the six larger parties in the Dail will co-sponsor a Dail motion tomorrow welcoming and approving the terms of the agreement. They will also support the Bill to allow the referendum to be held on May 22nd.
Such a Bill must be passed by the houses of the Oireachtas at least 30 days before the poll takes place, so Wednesday night is the deadline. No Dail time will be allocated to ministerial questions or private members' business tomorrow to allow for 11 hours of Dail debate on the matter tomorrow and Wednesday, and a 5 1/2-hour debate in the Seanad.