FORMER EUROPEAN commissioner Pádraig Flynn says he believes that the Yes side will prevail in the second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
However, he is critical of the Government for its handling of the first referendum. Mr Flynn said it would prove to be a test and "an interesting campaign" for Taoiseach Brian Cowen's leadership, though he added that the Government seemed to be more focused now than in the run-up to the June referendum.
"I believe it will pass this time, if the campaign is organised differently and all the necessary clarifications and declarations are put in place so there is a full understanding of what is involved," he said.
However, he added: "I do not think that it will be shoo-in by any means."
Mr Flynn was speaking to The Irish Times ahead of a radio documentary about his term as an EU commissioner. It will be transmitted on the local Mayo station, MWR, on Saturday at 9.30am.
Asked for his own view on the Lisbon Treaty, he said that he supported it. He also said that he predicted after the referendum defeat in June that a second referendum would have to be held and would likely take place in autumn 2009.
"I believe that it's necessary for Irish people to pass it. With the fallout from the economic downturn, the full advantages of the European Central Bank and [other] European institutions have become clear.
"The referendum will be passed but it will be eagerly fought," he said. The documentary is entitled Pádraig Flynn - A Force for Social Change.
In what he described yesterday as "extra comments" he made during the making of the documentary, Mr Flynn criticised the Yes campaign, including the Government, for "lacking leadership" in the first referendum.
He said a lot of negatives were allowed to surface unchallenged during the campaign and were not adequately addressed by those in charge. "There were a lot of mistakes made. People didn't understand. They wanted things clarified in a precise way.
"Things were pretty disorganised. Any time you have the major political parties saying Yes, to go in the same direction, the onus of responsibility rests with the senior partner, big time.
"There wasn't the co-ordination that I would like to have seen in promoting the Lisbon Treaty," he said.