New poll shows Irish are against a second referendum and would reject Lisbon by even bigger margin than before; Irish government attacks poll
28 July 2008
A new poll by Irish company Red C, commissioned by Open Europe, has found that 71% of Irish voters are against a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, and that, of those who expressed an opinion, 62% would vote ‘no’. That would mean the "no" lead would increase from 6 points in the recent referendum to a commanding 24 point lead in a second vote.
The poll found that 17% of those who voted "yes" in the recent referendum would vote "no" in a second referendum, while only 6% of those who voted "no" would now vote "yes". Perhaps most significantly of all, those who did not vote last time would vote more than two-to-one against in a second referendum: 57% would vote "no" and 26% would vote "yes".
67% agreed with the statement that "politicians in
The poll was widely reported in the
Open Europe Director Neil O’Brien is quoted saying, “EU leaders who are trying to force Ireland to vote again are playing a very dangerous game, and it looks like Brian Cowen could be putting his political life on the line by calling a second vote. By appearing to bully the voters, EU politicians are actually driving lots more people into the ‘no’ camp." Neil was also interviewed on Irish radio RTE.
The Irish government yesterday accused Open Europe of “meddling” in the Irish debate, claiming the poll was “biased” and “not credible”. Speaking during a debate with Open Europe’s
This morning
Meanwhile, Eamon Gilmore, the leader of
Chairwoman of the People's Movement, former Green MEP Patricia McKenna, accused Government ministers of double standards, saying "There was no concern expressed about outside interference when the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU vice president Margot Wallstrom came here to urge us to vote Yes. It's a bit late for the Government minister to be taking the moral high-ground now.”
She said: “Our Government has never complained about polls commissioned by the EU political establishment. But because other interested parties, who have a different agenda, commission opinion polls on our attitude to
The Irish Government has initiated high-level contact with the two main opposition parties to discuss the formation of an all-party body on the Lisbon Treaty.
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Open Europe poll: press release Open Europe poll: full results
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Burnham:
The
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