Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern will tomorrow update his EU counterparts on Ireland’s preparations for the Lisbon Treaty referendum.
Speaking ahead of the EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Slovenia, Mr Ahern said he believes Irish voters will send out a strong signal of support for the controversial charter.
The Government has yet to announce a date for the vote although the Taoiseach is believed to favour the second week in June.
Mr Ahern said: “Many of the Union’s more recent members from this part of Europe look to Ireland as a template for what they hope to achieve within the Union.
“They see our transformation from one of the poorest to one of the most prosperous members of the Union as an example of what a country can do to transform itself within the single market.
“I believe the Irish voters will send out a strong signal of support for the Reform treaty which will allow the European Union to operate more efficiently and effectively.”
The two-day meeting in Slovenia will also discuss the Western Balkans, the Middle East, EU relations with Russia and external energy security.
The Balkan nation, which joined the EU in 2004, currently holds the rotating presidency of the 27-state bloc. Mr Ahern said Ireland’s membership of the EU had helped it contribute Defence Forces and Garda personnel to peacekeeping operations in the Balkans and elsewhere.
“Our membership of the European Union has allowed us to expand our commitment to preventing and resolving regional and global conflicts and to creating a fairer international order.”
He added: “Nothing in the Reform Treaty changes this in any way. Instead, the Reform Treaty makes the practical changes necessary to allow the Union to continue to develop its important crisis management functions.”