Government steps up its 'Yes' to Nice campaign

Today marks the beginning of Fianna Fáil’s "Yes" campaign blitz in the Nice Treaty Referendum.

Over the next 12 days, daily addresses and press conferences will be held in an effort to get the "Yes" message across to the electorate.

Jobs, growth and enlargement are the crucial issues, according to the parliamentary party.

Minister for the Environment, Martin Cullen, said that Maastricht was a more difficult treaty involving several complicated issues and that Nice is simply about enlargement.

"This treaty is clearly about enlargement, bringing all the central and eastern European countries into the European Union and I think the message from an Irish point of view is very simple.

"Every time the European Union has expanded, Ireland has done extremely well and we've expanded our economy and created more jobs," he said.