Legislation to allow the referendum to give effect to the Northern Ireland Agreement will be rushed through the Oireachtas before midnight on Wednesday, the deadline if the poll is to take place on May 22nd.
The Government will decide by Tuesday on a number of details concerning the referendum. It must first decide if the referendum on the Amsterdam Treaty will take place on the same day. According to the Government Chief Whip, Mr Seamus Brennan, there is "general agreement" between the Government and the main Opposition parties that the two should be held together.
A final decision will be taken during two days of Cabinet meetings on Monday and Tuesday next, according to Mr Brennan. The Green Party, the Socialist TD, Mr Joe Higgins, and other opponents of the Amsterdam Treaty have called for the Amsterdam vote to be postponed, saying proper public debate on two such important issues could not take place simultaneously.
The Cabinet must also decide whether the amendments related to the Northern Ireland Agreement - to Articles 2, 3 and 29 - should be put to the people as one single proposal to be approved or rejected, or separated into individual questions. Mr Brennan said the Government favoured putting just one composite question, but would be guided by the advice of the Attorney General when it meets next week.
The amendments to Articles 2 and 3 allow for the redefinition of the Irish nation and the extent of application of the laws of the State, in order to remove the constitutional imperative on the State to seek Irish unity. The amendment to Article 29 is to allow North-South bodies to come into existence and operate.
The Cabinet will also discuss next week if the referendum commission set up to co-ordinate information campaigns for and against the Amsterdam Treaty will be asked to do the same for the Northern Ireland referendum. The alternative is to set up a separate commission for that referendum.
Mr Brennan said he believed that Fianna Fail and the other political parties would be campaigning actively in favour of the Northern Ireland referendum. In a situation where the State is now prevented by the McKenna Supreme Court judgment from funding partisan referendum campaigns, the absence of enthusiastic party campaigns exposes the Government to the risk of losing votes on constitutional changes it proposes.
The referendum will be to insert a "transitory" provision into the Constitution, allowing amendments to be made but only if all aspects of the agreement are implemented. If this has not happened within 12 months, the amendments will not be made.
The leaders of the largest six parties in the Dail agreed yesterday to co-sponsor a Dail motion next Tuesday to welcome and approve the terms of the agreement reached in Belfast last Friday. They will also support the Bill to allow the referendum to be held on May 22nd.