Yes lobby ahead but lead cut by eight points

THE Yes side remains ahead in the Lisbon Treaty battle, but its lead has been cut since June, causing fresh worry for Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Just 24 hours after Mr Cowen said a Yes vote was crucial to Ireland’s economic future, a new poll showed the number of people intending to support the treaty was down eight points to 46%.

That is comfortably ahead of the 29% intending to vote no, but the distance between the two sides has closed in the last three months.

In June, the Yes side led the No campaign by 54% to 28%, a margin of 26%.

The margin has now narrowed to 17%, with 46% saying they intend to vote Yes and 29% saying No.

The number of people in the “don’t know” category is up from 18% in June to 25% now – a figure which will boost No campaigners as it suggests that doubts about Lisbon are increasing.

Separate figures released the previous day from the same poll, conducted by TNS MRBI for the Irish Times, showed the approval ratings of Mr Cowen and his Government crumbling.

However, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny urged the public yesterday not to turn Lisbon into a protest vote against the Government.

While people were “grossly unhappy” with the Fianna Fáil-led coalition and wanted a change of government, Lisbon had to be seen separately to that issue.

Launching his party’s campaign for a Yes vote, Mr Kenny appealed to his own supporters, in particular, to put on hold their anger towards Mr Cowen for the purposes of the referendum.

Mr Cowen sparked outrage in Fine Gael during the first Lisbon campaign last year when suggesting the party could work harder to secure a Yes vote. Although insisting he had been misinterpreted, Mr Cowen failed to undo the damage and a significant number of Fine Gael supporters voted No.

Mr Kenny said he expected “no repeat” of such remarks from Mr Cowen this time.

“I’ll be asking Fine Gael supporters, who might have been offended in the last campaign, who might have been hurt during the last campaign, to put aside differences . . . and vote for the country, rather than against the Government.”

Asked if he felt the Taoiseach should desist from campaigning for Lisbon, given his current unpopularity, Mr Kenny smiled and replied: “That’s a very good question. He is the leader of the Government. He’s got a responsibility to be out there selling a positive message about Europe.”

Mr Cowen and Green Party leader John Gormley met with Mr Kenny and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore yesterday to discuss their respective campaigns.

The leaders agreed that cooperation between the parties would continue “on the ground” – meaning they will liaise to ensure they don’t schedule events at the same times or canvass the same areas.

But Mr Kenny played down the prospect of more visible co-operation, saying he had given no consideration to joint press conferences or similar events.

Mr Kenny said he would embark on a 20-day national tour to sell the treaty. On September 21, Fine Gael will hold a public meeting on Lisbon in every constituency, the only exceptions being Cork and Kerry.

Because both counties play in the All Ireland football final on September 20, and their teams will be travelling home on September 21, Fine Gael will hold their Lisbon meetings in Cork and Kerry later that week.