Under the slogan "A Europe for People - Not Profits or War", a group of Dáil deputies and left-wing organisations have formed the Alliance Against Nice, to campaign for a No vote in the constitutional referendum.
Launching the group at a Dublin hotel yesterday, the Independent TD Mr Tony Gregory said it was a "major coming together of political parties and Left groups". The Alliance includes, among others, the Green Party, Sinn Féin, the Socialist Party, the Workers' Party and the Socialist Workers' Party, the trade unionist Mr Mick O'Reilly and Independent TDs such as Mr Finian McGrath.
"The formation of the Alliance demonstrates the seriousness of the participants about waging a coherent and authoritative campaign to highlight the kind of Europe envisaged by the proponents of the Nice Treaty and to pose a real alternative for ordinary voters," Mr Gregory said.
As part of its platform, the Alliance "opposes the drive towards economic 'liberalisation', which means wholesale privatisation of public services and state or semi-state enterprises". It also claims that the EU's Political and Security Committee, which is part of the Nice Treaty, "significantly advances the strategy to militarise the EU".
The Sinn Féin TD Mr Aengus Ó Snodaigh claimed that the "establishment parties and their elite allies in big business" had been "deploying PR consultants and ad agencies, and - at a time of cutbacks - spending millions of Euro in a Yes campaign of deliberate deception, economic and emotional blackmail and bribery".
The Green Party TD Mr Paul Gogarty said that the referendum was not a re-run of 1972, when Ireland voted to join the European Community. It had nothing to do with affecting inward investment but "everything to do with democracy".
The Socialist Party TD Mr Joe Higgins called for a strong campaign for a No vote. He said that the Government was presenting the issues in terms of "dry abstract formulations" because people might find the actual proposals deeply disturbing.
The Independent TD Mr Séamus Healy accused the Yes campaign of "bully-boy tactics" in falsely claiming that the Nice Treaty was a necessary precondition for EU enlargement.
Different speakers at the launching of the group were at pains to distance the Alliance from the National Platform and the No to Nice Campaign, which have highlighted the immigration issue as part of their referendum campaign.
Meanwhile, the No to Nice Campaign spokesman, Mr Justin Barrett, said that the Government was "ramming" the referendum through within the minimum period of 30 days: "They said on the last occasion that the people didn't understand the issues, but it is quite obvious from the way they are ramming this through that they believe a lack of understanding of the issues favours the Yes campaign, which is something we would agree with. We are happy that it is being held on a Saturday because, the higher the youth vote, the greater the No vote."
On the Yes side, it has emerged that Fianna Fáil is opening a special press centre for the campaign in Dublin's Pembroke Street, which goes into operation this weekend. It will be headed by Mr Dave Harmon, press officer for the party's representatives in the European Parliament. There will be a staff of "at least" 12. Mr Harmon described the Dáil constituencies as "42 battlegrounds where Fianna Fáil will be selling the message on the benefits of membership of the EU for Ireland".