Merkel to promote Treaty in Ireland, as voters remain undecided

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was in Dublin on April 14 to discuss the benefits of the Lisbon Treaty, shortly after a national poll had showed that 60 percent of Irish voters are still undecided about whether they will back the paper, which was signed in Lisbon last December.

According to a poll published last week by the Irish Sun, which surveyed about 1,000 Irish people, 28 percent said they would vote in favour, 12 opposed it. Only 6 percent declared they fully understood the changes that the Treaty would bring, whereas 40 percent said they had little undestanding and 25 percent no understanding at all.

Chancellor Merkel, speaking in Dublin, encouraged the voters to approve the Treaty, saying that it would be beneficial "even to sceptics". She assured that there would be no superstate in Europe, and that the new rules were to benefit Europe as a whole, but Ireland and individual states as well.

Irish PM Bertie Ahern, who will leave his post in May to fight allegations of financial irregularities, has backed the Treaty and assured that his country will gain from it. His successor next month has pledged to continue to highlight the benefits of a "yes" vote before the June referendum.

Speaking last week before Merkel's arrival, and ahead of Commission President Barroso's visit to Ireland on April 17, Ahern said: "The number, and stature, of our European visitors this week and next is testimony to our standing in Europe. (...) It is a good time to be Irish. And it is a great time to be an Irish European."

Most politicians support the Treaty, although some organisations are campaigning vigorously against it. One of them, Libertas, speaking about Merkel's and Barroso's visits, has denounced a "foreign interference".

Libertas Chairman Declan Ganley said that their visit "intended to boost support for the Lisbon Treaty" and would be conducted in the "most message-controlled manner possible".Ireland will be the only EU member state to have a referendum on the Treaty, which in the intentions of its makers should simplify the functioning of the EU institutions.