The Government and Fine Gael both narrowly avoided embarrassment in the Seanad yesterday in a vote to amend the Bill for the referendum to ratify the Nice Treaty.
By a margin of seven votes to six, members voted down a Fine Gael amendment to retitle the Bill. The vote was called by the proposer of the amendment, Ms Avril Doyle MEP, who was supported by four party colleagues and by Mr David Norris (Ind).
A senior Fine Gael member said he had earlier told the Government whips in the House that the issue would not be put to a vote.
He denied that Fine Gael took steps following the calling of the vote to ensure that it would not be carried.
Ms Doyle argued that the Bill to provide for the 24th Amendment to the Constitution was mistitled and so could be open to legal challenge. While supporting ratification, she warned that there could be a challenge in the wake of the Government's decision to drop the planned 22nd Amendment on judicial accountability.
She said the proposed ratification of Nice would not be the 24th occasion on which the people were asked to amend the Constitution. The Bill should be entitled the 22nd Amendment to ensure that there was no challenge to its legitimacy.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said the advice given to him was that the legitimacy of the Bill was not in question and its title was not a fatal flaw. The essential matter was the proposed wording. He said that despite the defeat of the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, on abortion, it was followed by the 13th Amendment. Disagreeing with the Minister, Ms Doyle said the 12th Amendment had actually been put to the people, but there would not be a 22nd Amendment for the voters to consider. "So I feel we're at risk of encouraging challenge and I don't want any groundswell of opinion to grow round that," she said.
Following the passage of the Bill, the Minister warned that the "great enemy" of adoption of the referendum was not political opposition but apathy.
Mr Cowen said the amendment was important and would affect the quality of life, prosperity and livelihoods of Irish people.