A majority - 52 per cent - of Irish people say they are likely to vote Yes in the upcoming Nice Treaty referendum, according to the latest Irish Times/MRBI opinion poll.
Asked: Are you likely to vote Yes or No for the Nice Treaty which provides amongst other things, for enlargement of the number of countries in the European Union? 52 per cent of respondents said Yes, 21 per cent said No and 27 per cent said they had no opinion.
The latest poll was conducted among a national quota sample of 1,000 electors at 100 sampling points throughout all constituencies last Monday and Tuesday.
The survey, due to be published tomorrow, also reveals a high level of ignorance of the issues involved in the Nice Treaty. Only 11 per cent of those surveyed said they had a good understanding of the issues while 26 per cent said they had some understanding. 30 per cent of respondents said the issues were 'not understood' while 32 per cent said they were vaguely aware. One per cent of people had no opinion.
The poll reflects a high level of support for a provision enabling Ireland to allow an international criminal court to try cases of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. 65 per cent were in favour, 11 per cent were against a provision while 24 per cent said they had no opinion.
A majority - 55 per cent - agreed with the removal from the Constitution of any provision for the death penalty. 28 per cent disagreed and 17 per cent had no opinion.