The Labour Party leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, has warned against allowing the "politics of fear" dominate "rational argument" about the future of Europe.
Mr Rabbitte was speaking as host at a seminar on a Labour Party document launched today about the future of Europe called
Working the Threads
.
Also speaking at the seminar was the former taoiseach Mr John Bruton, Labour MEP Mr Proinsias De Rossa, Ms Ivana Bacik Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin and the former Attorney General Mr John Rogers SC.
In his opening address Mr Rabbitte said he was launching the document today to contribute to the public debate surrounding the draft European Constitution.
The draft constitution would first have to pass an Inter-Governmental Conference before it is put to the people of Europe. In Ireland's case this would be through a referendum.
The Labour leader warned of past referenda experiences and called for public awareness on the issues.
"We know from experience in Ireland that this is where the politics of fear come into play. In the case of several referenda held here in the past, negative and highly charged emotional slogans proved sufficiently powerful to outweigh or almost outweigh reasonable and rational arguments," Mr Rabbitte said.
"Today is one more step in building the platform of public awareness and trust around this issue, which is crucial to all of us," Mr Rabbitte added.