Major campaigns to mobilise support in the Republic for the Northern Ireland Agreement will be opened by political parties next week. While parties in the South yesterday welcomed the broad support for the agreement identified by the Irish Times/Guardian opinion poll, several expressed disappointment that it has not received greater backing in the Republic.
The poll showed that 73 per cent of voters in the North plan to endorse the agreement, compared with 61 per cent in the South.
Fine Gael said the poll findings in the South were "disappointing but not surprising". Any indifference or ambivalence on the part of people in the Republic had to be dispelled "by vigorous political leadership and a comprehensive information campaign", it said.
"Fine Gael will be leading the charge for a resounding Yes vote, and the entire party membership will be mobilised throughout the country." The campaign would include a series of regional meetings to inform the public at centres throughout the State.
The Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said the poll findings were very encouraging, but warned that the ratification process had hardly begun. "The onus is on those of us who support it to explain the opportunity it provides us to build a better future for all the people on this island."
A PD senator, Ms Helen Keogh, said her party would be canvassing door-to-door for support for the deal. She said the lower level of support in the South for the agreement was surprising. "Perhaps we're not as engaged in the process [as people in the North]. It's a very comfortable majority in favour but I would like to see a higher figure."
A Democratic Left spokesman said the lower level of support in the Republic emphasised the need for the parties to mobilise support for the agreement.
Mr Mark Durkan of the SDLP also welcomed the poll findings. "This is a good result. It under lines what SDLP representatives are already being told by their constituents, that this agreement offers the best opportunity for a lasting peace this generation."
However, Mr Nigel Dodds of the Democratic Unionist Party said the poll was "exactly the kind of public relations manipulation and deception which we exposed would be at the heart of the NIO's campaign strategy for a Yes vote".
He claimed the document leaked recently from the Northern Ireland Office revealed that the massaging of public opinion poll results and the selective use of polling figures would form a central role in the campaign for a Yes vote.
"The poll simply does not square with reality. Even the fools of the NIO should realise that the whole of the DUP, the UKUP, at least half the UUP as well as other significant unionist groups adds up to more than 14 per cent of the electorate. The poll is so out of line with reality on the ground that its worth to the NIO is completely destroyed," he said.
In a statement responding to Mr Dodds's claims, the NIO said it was "simply not true" that it was involved in any way in the Irish Times/Guardian poll.
