Cowen pleads with voters after opinion poll shock

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said a Yes vote in the Lisbon Treaty referendum next week is “fundamentally in our interests” after…

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said a Yes vote in the Lisbon Treaty referendum next week is “fundamentally in our interests” after a poll today showed it faces a shock rejection.

Mr Cowen accused those opposed to the treaty of “spreading confusion” and bringing in “extraneous issues” that were nothing to do with the Treaty, which is subject to a referendum on June 12th.

According to the Irish Times/TNS mrbi poll results, the number of people intending to vote No has almost doubled to 35 per cent (up 17 points) since the last poll three weeks ago, while the number of the Yes side has declined to 30 per cent (down 5 points).

The number of undecided voters is still a significant 28 per cent (down 12 points), while 7 per cent won’t vote.

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The findings suggest that Mr Cowen faces a humiliating defeat on the Lisbon Treaty unless he can galvanise support to bring about an unprecedented swing in favour of the treaty during the last week of the campaign.

Speaking after the poll results were published this morning, Mr Cowen defended the Treaty, adding that he was urging a Yes vote out of a “genuine concern” for Ireland’s interests.

“Please continue with our commitment to the European project. It is fundamentally in our interests to do so,” he told the electorate during an interview with RTÉ’s Pat Kenny.

“The question of our taxation is not at issue here. We retain unanimous requirements for that to be changed. . . . We negotiated that and we were accommodated by the European Union,” he said.

“Secondly, in relation to these big lies about the Commission, for example . . . at the moment under the existing treaty in the Nice Treaty there is a commitment to reduce the number of commissioners. What we have achieved in this Treaty during our own presidency is the whole question of expressing equality of treatment for all countries in that respect.

“So Germany who used to have two will also be without one in one in every three commissions as will Ireland, which has four million people.

“In relation to neutrality, again our position is absolutely clear. It’s a unanimous requirement in relation to security and defence matters. We still have the triple lock for parliament and for Government approval and of course for UN sanction, and that’s all respected.”

He said conspiracy theories from the No side were “blown apart”.

“They contend that the EU is a malevolent thing, it’s doing a lot of harm to Ireland, it’s conspiring to do us down, treat us as second-class citizens, all this nonsense.”

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the results of today’s poll were "disappointing and show that there is a major challenge facing those of us on the Yes side". But he said the campaign battle was "far from over".

"We also need to retain a sense of perspective on the poll results. The numbers currently indicating that they will vote No (35%) is well below the numbers who actually voted No in the Nice I referendum in 2001 (54%) and even below the numbers who voted against Nice II (37%) in 2002," he added.

"Clearly the 35 per cent that have still to make up their mind will be crucial to the outcome of the referendum. We now have a little less than a week to show them the very real benefits of a Yes and the potential negative consequences of a No vote."

The Irish Alliance for Europe said the opinion poll results are a "valid reflection" of where the mood of the country.

“These figures are a cause of concern to us on the Yes side; however, we believe that this is very much there to be won," said alliance director Brendan Kiely.

"Crucially since this poll was taken, the Independent Referendum Commission has debunked another five lies being propagated by the No side in this campaign, including the WTO veto and the highly emotive issue of abortion, in addition to the No side myths they previously debunked in relation to tax and neutrality."

The European Commission declined today to comment on the Irish Timespoll, calling only for voters to exercise their right to vote.

"We do not comment on opinion polls, what counts is the decision of the Irish people," Commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger told a regular briefing in Brussels. "What I can say today is that voting matters. It is very important that the Irish people do use their right to vote."