POLL REACTION:THE LATEST Irish Timesopinion poll showing an 8 per cent dip in support for the Lisbon Treaty indicates the referendum campaign is going to be tight, a senior member of Cabinet has said.
“I was never under any illusion but that it would be difficult to secure this but I do think we can do it,” Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said yesterday. “There is a very significant challenge ahead. It’s going to be a very tight campaign and it will demand all of the resources, conviction, politics and passion of all of those on the Yes side.”
Mr Martin, Fianna Fáil’s campaign director, was speaking on RTÉ and said the poll was an accurate one. Asked if the slip in Yes support mirrored the trends during last year’s campaign, he said that every referendum and campaign was different.
“The significant difference . . . between this time last year and now is that the ‘don’t know’ category has reduced significantly, and according to some research that we have seen . . . the information deficit has been improved. In other words more people are aware of the issues.”
Fine Gael foreign affairs spokesman Billy Timmins said the outcome of the poll was a reminder that many people have yet to be convinced of the benefits a Yes vote would provide for the State and for the economy.
Mr Timmins, his party’s campaign director, said ratification was necessary for economic recovery. “Yesterday’s poll provides confirmation of the tough task that lies ahead in convincing people that Ireland’s interests are best served by remaining central to the European Union.
“Twenty-Five per cent of Irish people have yet to be persuaded that ratification of the Lisbon Treaty will be positive for Ireland and that represents an opportunity to those of us advocating a Yes vote to highlight how beneficial the European Union has been for the Irish economy,” he added.
Labour’s campaign director Joe Costello said the poll showed that there could be no grounds for complacency. “The poll shows this will be a challenging campaign, with every vote having to be fought for and a close outcome likely on polling day.
“While the poll shows the Yes side to be comfortably ahead, there was a similar message in polls taken at the same stage of the [first] Lisbon campaign but the result on polling day was very different.”
He said that those in the “don’t know” category would be crucial to the outcome.
“I accept that Lisbon can be a difficult issue for people, but there is now sufficient information around to make an informed judgment on an issue that will be crucial for the future of our country.”
At the launch of his party’s campaign for a Yes vote, Green Party leader John Gormley said the poll confirmed his view that it will be a very close contest and that the Yes side would need to run an energetic and focused campaign in order to avoid defeat.
Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin argued that the momentum was moving towards the No side. He said it was now becoming apparent that the retention of a commissioner for Ireland is not guaranteed to “remain into perpetuity”.
He said it was important people read the fine print. He added that it was substantially the same treaty that had been rejected by the French and Dutch in 2005.
The Yes side had “come back and tried to fool the Irish people that they have a new treaty or a better deal. This is exactly the same treaty”, he said.
The opinion poll, published yesterday, showed 46 per cent intend to vote Yes compared with 29 per cent who say they will vote No.
This represents a nine point swing to the No side when compared with the last Irish Timespoll in May
