By IRNA
London : Ireland will hold a referendum on the EU’s new reform treaty during the second week of June, Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has confirmed.
“The government have more or less signed off on the date. It is really a question about the day of the week,” Ahern told the Irish parliament in Dublin.
Ireland is the only member state planning a vote on the treaty which reforms the EU’s institutions and replaces the abandoned constitutional treaty.
A vote against treaty, signed by EU leaders in Lisborn last December, would jeopardize efforts to bring it into force in January 2009 as it has to be ratified by all 27 member states.
In 2001, Irish voters created a problem when voting against the Nice Treaty although it was approved the following year after guarantee’s about Ireland’s traditional neutrality.
The new treaty is supported by both the Irish government and main opposition parties, but is opposed by Sinn Fein. Recent opinion polls suggest voters will back the treaty, although almost a third said they were undecided.