The campaign against the Nice Treaty has been accused by Fianna Fáil of using the issue of neutrality as a wedge to drive people away from their attachment to Europe.
"They have tried exactly the same thing during every other European referendum," Minister of State Mr Brian Lenihan said yesterday.
Mr Lenihan called on people to step back and consider the facts and the motivation of the people trying to use neutrality as a weapon to defeat the referendum. He said to vote Yes would give the strongest protection for our neutrality.
Mr Lenihan said there were two important elements of the revised proposal which were a direct and specific response to the call for guarantees on neutrality. First, the Seville Declaration was a binding legal interpretation of the treaty.
"It confirms that nothing in the treaty interferes with our traditional neutrality. There is nobody in Europe trying to coerce us into anything."
The second was that for people who did not believe the words of every country in Europe that they respected Irish neutrality, the proposed amendment to the Constitution would ensure that it was the people who would have the say on any changes.
Those who were campaigning for a Yes vote were as attached as anyone to our neutrality. "What we want is a Europe which continues to experience peace and growth and where our international role is defined by the primacy of the United Nations."
He appealed to the electorate to put aside the arguments of the anti-Europeans and look to the reality of the proposal.