The Green Party has said its stance that EU enlargement can proceed even if people vote No to the Nice Treaty in next October's referendum was confirmed yesterday.
Mr John Gormley, the party's foreign affairs spokesman, said comments yesterday by former French president Mr Valéry Giscard d'Estaing supported this view.
Mr Giscard, who heads the Convention on the Future of Europe, said yesterday that an "initiative" was necessary in case Irish voters said No to the treaty in the referendum.
The treaty must be ratified in all 15 EU member-states by the end of this year, or else it falls.
"We can't ignore their vote," said Mr Giscard, speaking in Denmark where he met the Danish Prime Minister, Mr Anders Fogh Rasmussen, whose country took over the six-month EU presidency this week.
In the event of a No vote, "we will have a difficult legal situation with which, I think, we can cope. But it will need initiative. . .on how to handle the situation," he said.
"Probably they (EU governments) will call for an initiative to take from the treaty all that is needed to go on with the enlargement," he speculated.
He stressed that the EU must "take initiatives to be able on the legal basis to ensure the enlargement".
"If Irish voters vote No there will be no Nice Treaty, which must be ratified unanimously.
"But as this treaty comprises elements that are necessary in order to proceed with enlargement, these arrangements must be made in one form or another by all of the EU member-states," he said.
These comments showed that an Irish No vote would not stop EU enlargement, said Mr Gormley, who called on the Minister for Foreign Affairs to admit this.
He urged the Government to "be honest enough to inform the Irish people about the true nature of the Nice Treaty.
"Surely it is quite clear now that the historical and political imperative of enlargement will proceed regardless of what way the Irish vote in the autumn."
Meanwhile, the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, has said a vote for the Nice Treaty will be good for jobs, investment and exports.
Speaking at a Department of Foreign Affairs trade seminar yesterday, Ms Harney said a Yes vote "will be interpreted in parliaments and in boardrooms as a signal that Ireland intends to be at the heart of Europe and of the international community".