Ierse poll: meerderheid kiezers voor Verdrag van Lissabon (en)
A new poll has shown a swing in favour of the Lisbon treaty in Ireland as the main political parties argue about when would be the best time to hold a second referendum on the document.
According to a survey carried out by the Irish Times newspaper, 51 percent are in favour of the treaty while 33 percent would vote against it.
The result represents an increase of 8 points for the Yes camp since November and a drop of six points for the No camp.
Analysis of the results suggests it is farmers and middle-class voters who have shifted their opinion towards a Yes since the referendum in June last year.
Meanwhile, the least well off tend to be opposed to the treaty.
The swing in Lisbon's favour comes amid the country's convulsions in the economic crisis, which has caused thousands of job losses.
The state of the economy has prompted comparisons between it and non-EU member Iceland, where the government collapsed over the crisis and which has needed an International Monetary Fund bailout.
Politicians have said that if Ireland was not in the EU, it would be in the same situation as the small Arctic country.
But political parties continue to be at odds over when to hold the second poll on the EU treaty.
Prime minister Brian Cowen i has previously indicated that the poll should be held in autumn, saying only that it will take place before 31 October.
Opposition politicians are beginning to say that political advantage should be taken of the economic crisis and that an earlier poll is likely to secure a Yes vote.
Euro-deputy Colm Burke, member of the opposition Fine Gael Party, on Sunday (15 February) called on the government to hold the poll in April.
"The current economic crisis has brought home to people, up and down the land, how vital is Ireland's membership of the European Union," he said.
Setting a date
Meanwhile, the head of Fine Gael Party, Enda Kenny urged the government to be clear on when the vote is to be held but said that holding the vote at the same time as the European elections in June - as the government is reportedly considering - would be a mistake.
"I believe that this would be a serious mistake. Not only would the necessary public debate on Lisbon be overshadowed by the election campaigns, it would run the risk of the elections being turned into proxy referendums by the candidates whose only political platform will be one of opposition to the treaty," said Mr Kenny.
He called on Mr Cowen to instead make it clear that the referendum will be held in October and set a firm date.
The Czech Republic, currently in charge of the EU, met with the Irish government over the weekend to discuss how to proceed with the Lisbon treaty, which needs to be ratified by all member states to come into force.
Czech deputy prime minister Alexandr Vondra stressed that Dublin is not being put under pressure about when to hold a referendum.
He added that Prague will present its progress on establishing legal guarantees for Ireland in certain areas such as tax and social issues at a meeting of EU leaders next month.
The guarantees were secured by Mr Cowen late last year as part of the government's package for re-presenting the treaty to the Irish people.