For the sake of democracy, both in Ireland and the EU, Sinn Féin would be urging people to vote No for a second time, the party's Dáil leader, Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, said yesterday.
He welcomed the Saturday date and said that the campaign would be a battle for democracy.
Sinn Féin wanted a State where the political elite could be called to account and respect the will of the people. "We want a rejection of the Nice Treaty, which will end the EU as a partnership of equals and create a two-tier Europe."
The Socialist Party TD Mr Joe Higgins challenged the Government to concentrate on the essential issues. It should leave aside in particular the tendency to frighten working people with lurid threats of foreign companies abandoning the Irish economy if they voted No. Multinational companies were here for the massive profits they made.
The Workers' Party yesterday called on the EU, the governments of other member-states and aspirants to "stop meddling" in the Irish referendum and allow the Irish people to reach their own decision on the treaty.
The party's president, Mr Seán Garland, said that the Government had already shown scant regard for people's democratic rights by ignoring the first referendum.
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association national executive yesterday announced that it had decided to postpone a decision on its stance on the referendum in the light of what it described as the ongoing failure of the Yes proponents to engage in debate on the relevance of enlargement to the future of farming in Ireland.
Meanwhile, the National Youth Council of Ireland, which does not take a stance on the referendum, welcomed the decision to hold the referendum on a Saturday. It said that this would allow more voters, especially young people, to have a say on the future of Europe.