Ireland gives emphatic 'yes' to enlarged EU

The way was opened for a new phase of European Union expansion yesterday when the Republic of Ireland voted decisively in favour of the Nice Treaty.

Relief coursed through almost all European capitals as the Irish referendum vote completed the process of ratification of the treaty. Defeat would have thrown the union's enlargement into confusion.

The EU will now proceed with the business of shaping a new Europe, admitting 10 new states which hope membership will rescue them from poverty and under-development.

In Dublin, the mood in political circles, where all the major parties had supported Nice, was closer to relief than elation. The result was a reversal of a referendum last year that rejected the treaty.

This time the vote in favour was 63 per cent to 37 per cent, a swing of more than 16 per cent from the 2001 result. The voting figures were 906,000 in favour of Nice and 534,000 against. In a remarkable display of uniformity, each of the Republic's 42 constituencies had a "yes" majority.

The "yes" lobby was judged to have been complacent last year, assuming that Irish voters would automatically adhere to their traditional pro-European stance. This time, intensive campaigning by both camps engaged the public interest to a much higher degree, taking turn-out from 35 per cent to 49 per cent. In numerical terms, the "no" vote remained steady while the "yes" vote rose by half a million.

More than 500,000 voters continue to have concerns about issues such as Irish neutrality, a concentration of power among Europe's larger countries and a possible rise in immigration. But they were decisively outnumbered by a large, previously apathetic majority which, this time round, responded to calls to do its European duty.

In broader terms, the result may come to be viewed as a defining moment in terms of Ireland's relationship with the EU, which is regarded as having contributed greatly to Dublin in terms of both cash and international self-esteem.

Suspicions generated by last year's rejection that Ireland's long love-affair with Europe was drawing to a close have now been dispelled. Romano Prodi, the president of the European Commission, welcomed the outcome as "even better than expected", saying Ireland was giving a "green light" to enlargement.

President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland, one of the countries expected to join the EU, expressed gratitude to the Irish authorities for "having mounted a solid campaign".

Bertie Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister, said: "This decision shows above all that, as a nation, we want to welcome the people of the applicant countries into the union with open hearts as well as open minds. It ensures that Ireland remains at the heart of Europe, where we belong."

Mary Harney, his deputy, added: "The last 18 months have been a watershed in our democracy and how we see our place in Europe. Today, Ireland played a lead role in Europe, and we have all won."

Roger Cole, a "no" campaigner and chairman of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance, said that during the last week of the campaign "it became clear we weren't going to win, but we didn't expect to lose as badly as we did". John Gormley of the anti-Nice Green Party said the electorate had been intimidated by "yes" campaigners. He added: "There was, I think, a huge guilt trip, a certain intimidation ­ and a lot of money as well."

The president of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, who is Irish, said the lesson from the two referendums was that "you cannot take your citizens for granted".