Second week of June for Lisbon poll

THE referendum on the Lisbon Treaty has been pushed back another week, with the poll now to take place in the second week of June.

Voters will be asked to go to the polls on or after Thursday, June 12. This, or Saturday, June 14, are thought the most likely dates, although Friday the 13 is also a possibility.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern confirmed the timing in the Dáil in response to questioning by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny who asked if the delay in setting a date had anything to do with uncertainty over the scheduling of the Taoiseach’s next appearance at the Mahon Tribunal.

Mr Ahern said the only uncertainty remaining was over the day of the week. “We’re looking at the second week in June,” he said, adding that previous polls had taken place on Thursday and Saturday.

Fine Gael’s Alan Shatter pointed out that the Leaving Certificate exams would be taking place that week, making it difficult for the many students who would be entitled to vote.

The Taoiseach said the majority of the exams would be finished on June 12 and to leave it much later than that would risk the annual summer exodus of students out of the country.

Previously Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche said the referendum would be held in the last week of May or the first week of June and Mr Ahern later said it would be during the early days of June.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said he welcomed the “incremental clarity” coming from the Taoiseach but he complained about the lack of easily understood material on the treaty for the public to digest.

“There is lots of information around but not in a straightforward or simple language,” he said. He said the debate would “deteriorate to an exercise of party political gamesmanship” rather than a proper analysis of the content of the treaty if people did not have a clear understanding of the issues involved.

The Lisbon Treaty contains contentious proposals which includes changes to the structure of the European Commission and the voting rights of EU member states.

Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó’Caoláin said the full text of the treaty was not available from the Government Publications Office and the Nice and Maastricht treaties to which it refers were out of print.

“The 22-page book [produced by the Government] is heavily skewed towards the yes position,” he said.

He also asked for a guarantee from the Taoiseach that the referendum would not be re-staged if the public voted against it as happened with the Nice Treaty.

Mr Ahern said the Referendum Commission, which must provide households with the arguments for and against the treaty, would have sufficient time to do its job.

He did not reply to the question of how he would respond in the event of a no vote.