Labour and Fine Gael today welcomed the announcement of a date for the Nice referendum warning against lethargy in the Yes campaign but anti-Nice parties said they were confident of victory.
Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said: "There is still a huge information deficit on the Nice Treaty and it will be a challenge to all of us supporting the Treaty to ensure that the public have sufficient information to allow them to make an informed decision to vote yes on polling day."
Fine Gael foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Gay Mitchell, said: "There must be no lethargy in this campaign as the national interest requires those who support Nice to campaign vigourously."
Party leader, Mr Enda Kenny said: "I hope that on this occasion, Fianna Fáil's campaign will be real - not imaginary."
"A Yes vote is critical for the future of the country, and voters must now distinguish between giving the Government a reminder of their failure to Govern, and the importance of their vote in keeping Ireland at the centre of the European decision-making process," he said.
However the Green Party, while welcoming the announcement of a date, accused the pro-Nice parties of attempting scare, cajole and bully people into voting Yes.
Party Chairman, Mr John Gormley said: "I believe the Yes side have thrown their best punches over the long summer and yet we know from opinion polls that they have made little impact."
He said: "At long last the phoney war has come to an end and the real battle is about to commence."
Sinn Féin said the campaign would be "a battle for democracy".
The party's leader in the Dáil, Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said: "The Government refused to implement the people's decision in the first referendum. They openly defied that decision by urging the other EU states to go ahead and ratify Nice."
"For that reason alone many people will be voting No this time," he said.
Socialist Party TD, Mr Joe Higgins, challenged the Government "to concentrate on the essential issues and to leave aside, in particular, the tendency to frighten working people with lurid threats of foreign companies abandoning the Irish economy if they vote No." "The fact is that multinational companies are here for the massive profits they make and will be here until those profits decline significantly and the vote of the people on the Nice Treaty will not affect these decisions one way or the other," he said.
