A leading campaigner against the Nice Treaty has appealed to the President, Mrs McAleese, to reject any involvement in what he called "improper and undemocratic ploys" on the issue during her state visit to Finland and Estonia.
Mr Anthony Coughlan, a long-time opponent of EU integration, claimed in an open letter on behalf of his organisation, the National Platform, that it was no accident the visit to Finland, a neutral country, and Estonia, an EU candidate country, was taking place in the run-up to the Nice referendum.
"There is no doubt that this visit has been organised by the Government at this time, and in particular by the Department of Foreign Affairs, in the hope that it will lead to comments by leading politicians in these countries which either explicitly or implicitly urge the people of Ireland to vote Yes to the Nice Treaty on June 7th. They hope also that you will in some way lend the authority and prestige of your presidential office to such a call."
Mr Coughlan continued: "I recall well the key role that you played way back in 1986-87 in support of the late Raymond Crotty, whose successful constitutional action in the Supreme Court led to the Irish people - not our politicians - being able to decide by referendum whether they will surrender further tranches of their democracy and sovereignty to the EU."
He concluded: "We urge you not to allow the Government side here to influence you to make either overt or covert propaganda in support of ratifying the Treaty of Nice while you are in Finland and Estonia this week."
Meanwhile, the Green MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, said the way was being paved for an "authoritarian and totalitarian" European Union. She condemned what she said were "serious and far-reaching" proposals to relax stringent new data protection rules in order to allow police and law enforcement agencies free access to emails, faxes and phone calls.
Under the Nice Treaty, justice and home affairs was one of the areas in which Ireland would "lose the right to veto any decision running counter to the interests of its citizens".