A dispute over funding has broken out between different groups involved with the Nice referendum. The anti-Nice group, Equal in Europe, has accused the European Movement Ireland of conducting a "vigorous" campaign for a Yes vote under the guise of providing "information".
This charge has been strongly rejected by the movement, which states it is not advocating a Yes or No vote but is simply providing the facts.
The Standards in Public Offices Commission wrote to the movement last month explaining that individuals or groups receiving political donations over €126.97 were required to be registered. The letter adds: "It seems that the activities of the European Movement might fall into one or more of the parts of the definition of political purposes.
"However, at this stage it is a matter for the European Movement to decide if its activities fall within the scope of the definition in any way. If it decides that they do, the organisation should register with the Commission. You should bear in mind that it is an offence under the Electoral Acts to fail to comply with the requirements of the legislation."
However, a spokesman for the commission said it had been told last night by a representative of the movement that no donation in excess of €126.97 had been received so far. Registration would not be required in that case.
The issue was first raised by the chief spokesman for Equal in Europe, Mr Neil Patrick McCann, who said the European Movement was a long-standing "support group" for the European Union.
He produced the movement's newsletter for this month, soliciting donations of up to €10,000 for its Nice Treaty information campaign and urging members to support, "in a personal capacity", the activities of the pro-Nice group, the Alliance for Europe. He added that individual donations were limited to €6,348.69 under legislation. He noted that the movement recently held a conference of Ireland's European Commissioners, past and present, where a Yes vote was vigorously advocated.
The movement is providing leaflets and a video at its headquarters at 32 Nassau St, Dublin. The list of speakers for meetings includes a former Taoiseach, Dr Garret FitzGerald, the Minister of State for European Affairs, Mr Dick Roche, the former minister for finance, Mr Alan Dukes, and, on the No side, Councillor Deirdre de Búrca of the Green Party.
A European Movement spokeswoman said: "All we are doing is providing information." She compared their work with the activities of the Referendum Commission. The former European Commissioners had given their personal opinions on Nice. Volunteers were instructed under no circumstances to tell people how to vote: "Just provide the facts".