The President of the European Parliament, Mr Pat Cox, warned yesterday that a second rejection of the Nice Treaty would plunge the EU's main agenda, that of enlargement, into uncertainty and potential crisis.
This would not be in the interests of the EU or of the accession states or Ireland, Mr Cox asserted.
Welcoming the announcement of the referendum date, he said: "The vote on the second referendum on the Nice Treaty will be a defining moment for Ireland and for Europe."
For a generation, Ireland had chosen intelligent inter-dependence rather than isolated independence. In crossing that bridge we had moved from stagnation to opportunity. "We owe it to ourselves and future generations to stick with that proven path to success," he said.
The Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairí Quinn, also welcomed the announcement of the date of the referendum but expressed concern about the relatively short campaign. "The public opinion poll commissioned by the Referendum Commission showed that there will still be a huge information deficit on the Nice Treaty, and it will be a challenge to all of us supporting the treaty to ensure that the public has sufficient information to allow it to make an informed decision to vote Yes."
He added that the Labour Party was happy with the concessions regarding inclusion in the amendment of a commitment to Irish neutrality and the commitment to ensure greater accountability to the Oireachtas on EU matters. This meant that both the question to be put to the Irish people and the context in which it was being put had changed since June 2001.
Fine Gael's foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Gay Mitchell, called on other pro-Nice groups to follow his party's example by taking the campaign to the people through public meetings.
The chairwoman of the Irish Alliance for Europe, Ms Brigid Laffan, said that a second No vote would seriously call into question Ireland's commitment to the European ideal and leave us sidelined and friendless at the negotiating table.
Fianna Fáil TD Mr Pat Carey said that the Alliance Against Nice claim that enlargement could go ahead even if there was another No vote was wrong.