‘No’ vote could put the European Union under the spotlight

With the passage of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill through the Dáil yesterday the scene is set for Nice Mark II.

The Taoiseach has not decided to fill us in on the referendum date as yet, but in any case the nation is not exactly holding its breadth.

The likely outcome of the referendum is impossible to call at this stage, but the one thing we can predict with some degree of certainty is widespread public indifference and another dismally low turnout. Even if last year's result is marginally overturned by a far more vigorous 'Yes' campaign, another mass abstention on behalf of the Irish electorate would deal a further blow to the legitimacy and credibility of the so-called European project.