Nice Treaty - Sooner date of poll known the better

IT says much for the persuasive powers of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy that it only needed a mere two hours to convince Fianna Fáil backbenchers and senators of the rectitude of current economic stringencies.

Having absorbed the doctrine of economic adjustments or cutbacks, in layman's terms they were then dispatched from the two-day party meeting in Killarney to spread the doctrine of Nice being vital to the country's interests.

That tendentious mission is likely to prove more time-consuming for them on the doorsteps than it did for the party chiefs in the luxury of the Great Southern Hotel.