Ahern urges triple Yes vote in referendums

The Taoiseach Mr Ahern has urged a Yes vote in all three referendums this Thursday.

The Taoiseach Mr Ahern has urged a Yes vote in all three referendums this Thursday.

Ahern: says previous enlargements have been good for Ireland

Referring to the Labour Party poster campaign, Mr Ahern said: "Nice was good, Nice is right". He called on voters to deliver what he called a "Yes Triple Crown".

He added that a No vote would not see the end of the EU but would set it back as far as 1993 when the Council of Ministers came together to discuss EU enlargement.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Brian Cowen, welcomed Mr John Hume's support for the Nice Treaty. He said that Mr Hume's confirmation that the Treaty "is right for Ireland and right for a confident Ireland in Europe" will be seen as valuable reassurance by those confused by claim and counter claimn over recent weeks.

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Mr Cowen said the No campaign had never attempted to recognise the achievements of the Government to protect Irish neutrality in the Amsterdam Treaty or the Nice Treaty.

He added that Ireland, as an export economy, must have a Yes vote on Thursday.

"Previous enlargements have had great benefits for this country", he said.

The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, claimed that a No vote could be seen as Ireland handing over the political initiative on our engagement with the European Union to hard left socialist, Sinn Fein and misguided Greens. "We must not hand over any part of the political initiative to them," she said.