A sharp attack on anti-Nice campaigners, particularly the Green Party, has been launched by the director of the Progressive Democrats' campaign in the referendum, the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Mr Tom Parlon.
Urging farmers to vote for the treaty, Mr Parlon said the pro-Nice parties could be depended on to work for the interests of the farming community.
"If the Greens had their way the only sustainable agricultural crop left in Ireland would be tumbleweeds."
Farmers should not trust the No campaigners with their future: "I would not trust the future of my farm to Patricia McKenna, Gerry Adams or Justin Barrett. Trusting the No side with the future of agriculture is like putting a fox in charge of the henhouse." Mr Parlon was speaking in Brussels in advance of a meeting on structural funds.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan said that in the ten years since Ireland voted Yes to the Maastricht Treaty, employment had grown by 610,000.
Speaking at a Fianna Fáil news conference in Dublin, he said the party's message was to vote Yes. "If you are concerned about and interested in continuing the growth of the Irish economy."
Rejecting the treaty would be bad for Ireland: "The signal it sends, the uncertainty it creates will cause investors to get less confident." People should focus on ratifying Nice, "as a signal from Ireland to investors all over the world that we want that investment to continue".
The Minister of State for Health and Children, Mr Brian Lenihan, said rejecting Nice would jeopardise the Government's achievement in retaining Ireland's low corporate tax rate. "We are not threatening anyone," he said, but warned that this hard-won gain would be "up for grabs" if there was a No vote.
Senator Martin Mansergh, who was part of the Irish delegation at the treaty negotiations in Nice said the document was "a diplomatic triumph" for the Government. "Unlike Britain we have been fully committed to be in the mainstream. We would be perceived by investors as not having the same influence and goodwill if we vote No," the former Government adviser said.
Meanwhile, the anti-Nice group, Equal in Europe, has challenged the Government's credibility in economic forecasting. "During the campaign thus far the Government has misled the public on the economic consequences of a No vote, deliberately passing off personal and political opinion as evidence for its own case," a spokesman said.
"The available evidence, in the shape of the recently released UN World Investment Report 2002, shows that Britain outside the euro is now the second most popular destination for inward investment in the world, and the number one destination in Europe.
"Similarly Sweden outside the euro has doubled its percentage share of EU inward investment since 1999. The fact that neither of these countries could be considered as being in the mainstream of EU opinion has not impacted on their levels of foreign direct investment.
"The reality is that companies invest in Ireland because of our low tax rates, good workers and ready access to the European market. Not a single element of this will change in the event of a second No vote.
"The continuous economic scaremongering indulged in by the Government serves to undermine the credibility of the political process at a time when it is already at an all-time low. The Government has been unable to predict its own budget deficit one year in advance, and the suggestion that it is in a position to forecast EU investment trends into the future is rather dubious," he said.
Dublin City Council passed a motion last night calling on the citizens to vote Yes to Nice. The motion was tabled by Fianna Fail's Ms Deirdre Heney and was carried by 27 votes to eight.Sinn Féin, the Green Party and the independent, Mr Tony Gregory, spoke against the motion. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party urged citizens to vote Yes.