Ahern sets date for EU treaty poll

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern says a "no" vote for the EU treaty would be "catastrophic"

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DUBLIN, Republic of Ireland -- Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has set the date for Ireland's second referendum on the Nice Treaty on EU enlargement, warning another "no" vote will be a catastrophe.

Ahern declared October 19 as the poll date at a cabinet meeting in County Donegal, western Ireland on Thursday.

"I think it would be a disaster for this country not to ratify this," said Ahern, who is banking his political prestige on passing the treaty this time around.

"We would weaken our position in Europe, we would weaken our position internationally and I cannot think of one good reason why Irish people would vote no," Ahern, who is urging ratification, said.

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He added that approving the treaty would allow the countries of Eastern Europe "to join their fellow Europeans after over a decade of working hard and after almost half a century of being under Soviet rule -- this is their opportunity."

Irish voters rejected the Nice Treaty by a vote of 54 to 46 percent last year, a shock result that dealt a serious setback to European Union plans to admit up to 12 new member states, mostly from eastern Europe.

The treaty must be ratified by the year's end by all existing EU states in order to take effect.

Ireland alone of the 15 existing EU members must approve the treaty by referendum, and the 54 percent "no" vote last time around was seen as a huge setback to EU expansion plans.

Recent opinion polls have shown that Irish voters are still not convinced of the wisdom of approving the treaty, with one poll showing up to 44 percent of the electorate remain

An information booket has been sent to all households in Ireland at a cost of 600,000 euros

undecided, Reuters reported.

Ireland's other EU partners and applicant states from Estonia to Cyprus are hoping Ahern will wage a much stronger "yes" campaign to sway an apathetic electorate.

Irish leaders spent 600,000 euros ($591,000) sending information booklets on the poll to every household in the country nearly three weeks ago after conceding their low-key campaign was partly to blame for a similar ballot being defeated a year ago. (Full story)

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