Lack of trust in the Government had become a major factor in the Nice referendum campaign, according to the Green Party TD, Mr John Gormley. He claimed recent cutbacks showed the Government could not be believed on economic issues and that the people could not trust them on European issues either.
"People are genuinely annoyed with this Government about the series of broken promises," he said. "In particular they are annoyed that they were told that the economy was in sound shape. If the Government cannot be trusted on the economy, they certainly cannot be trusted on the Nice Treaty."
The Greens did not want immigration from central and eastern Europe to be an issue. "We simply don't believe there will be a flood," Mr Gormley said.
The Green Party would be focusing on the treaty itself "in quite a bit of detail". He told a news conference in Dublin yesterday: "We are a pro-European party but we want a different type of Europe, a Europe which is democratic and accountable."
The Green TD for Dublin Mid-West, Mr Paul Gogarty, who has been appointed as director of the party's referendum campaign, said there would be more activity "on the ground" this time. "We are opposing it (the treaty) on a positive basis," he continued. The Greens were pro-enlargement and pro-democracy and the basis of the campaign would be, "It's democracy, stupid."
The Greens would be asking the President, Mrs McAleese, to call a meeting of the Council of State to discuss the constitutionality of the legislation providing for a second referendum, since it was "exactly the same treaty".
Mr Gormley said the Treaty would put an end to the "partnership of equals" in the European Union and move power to the bigger countries. Losing the automatic right to a commissioner when EU membership reached 27 was "very, very serious for smaller countries".
He conceded it would be "extremely hard" to win a second time. "They (the Yes campaign) are going to plough money into it, they will on this occasion - we have seen it already - forget about the treaty itself and just try and scare people."
He challenged the Minister for Foreign Affairs to debate the issues face-to-face, or the Taoiseach, if he was "up to it".
Mr Gormley acknowledged that the German and Austrian Greens took a different view of the treaty but the Swedish, British and Danish Greens had the same stance as the Greens in Ireland.
A spokesman for the pro-Nice group Ireland for Europe said the "hidden agenda" of the No campaign was to stop EU enlargement. "They should just come clean rather than hide behind shallow slogans," Mr Dean Kelly said.
"The reality is that there are at least 10 countries waiting to join and without a Yes vote only five places are available. The No campaign can't have it both ways - 10 countries into five places just doesn't fit."
Ireland for Europe was formed after the last referendum with the aim of securing ratification of the treaty. "We are a voluntary national organisation without affiliation whose membership spans the broadest range of political opinion and is open to anyone who shares its aims. Ireland for Europe believes that Ireland must remain at the heart of the EU and that the Treaty of Nice is necessary to ensure an effective and enlarged Union," Mr Kelly said.