Irish urged to back Nice

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has launched a fresh campaign to persuade voters to support a key treaty on expanding the European Union. The Irish Government publishes 27 June 2002 the Twenty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 2002. Following Oireachtas consideration of the Bill in early September, the Government intends to hold a referendum later in the autumn. The Irish Government believe that it is in the Irish peoples national and personal interest that Ireland remain a fully engaged member of the enlarged European Union. Ratification of the Nice Treaty is therefore essential.