OPPOSITION:LABOUR LEADER Eamon Gilmore urged voters yesterday to resist a "natural temptation" to give the Government "a kicking" in the Lisbon referendum.
Mr Gilmore said people who were "understandably" critical of the Government's record on education, the health service, prices and the economy might see the referendum as the first opportunity "to vote 'against' the Government".
"I would urge anyone considering this course of action to think the issue through and to recognise that voting against Lisbon in order to get at the Government would truly be a case of 'cutting off your nose to spite your face'," he said.
In a statement yesterday afternoon, Mr Gilmore said the treaty contained a range of potential benefits for the Irish people that would be lost if it was not ratified.
"The decision as to how to vote on June 12th should be based on an assessment of the treaty's benefits for Ireland and not on a judgment of the Government's record on domestic issues," he said.
Separately yesterday, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny reiterated his criticism of remarks by the Taoiseach at the weekend concerning the parties' Lisbon campaigns.
Mr Kenny has said that Mr Cowen's Dáil clarification about remarks "lacked generosity" towards the efforts put in by Fine Gael to the Yes campaign. Last Sunday, Mr Cowen suggested there was a need for parties to "crank up" their campaigns.
This was interpreted by Fine Gael, especially, and Labour as a criticism of the intensity and efforts of their respective campaigns, compared to Fianna Fáil's.
The Taoiseach later denied he was "having a cut" at any party and said in the Dáil that he had no need to apologise because he had meant no offence to anybody.
As he canvassed support from voters in St Stephen's Green, Dublin, yesterday morning, Mr Kenny said nobody's efforts should have been decried or denigrated by Mr Cowen.
"It's not just about Fine Gael supporters who are campaigning for a Yes vote. We were all done down by these remarks," he said.
He rejected any contention that he had not been visible enough during the campaign or needed to intensify his efforts.
He also rejected the proposition that the fact Fine Gael had publicised in advance his walkabout in St Stephen's Green yesterday was a reaction to the perceived criticisms of his campaign.
"I can supply the evidence today through [Fine Gael's] director of elections Gay Mitchell of all of the public appearances that I have made since the start of the year where I have been publicly out in support of the Lisbon Treaty asking repeatedly for a day from the Taoiseach.
"That's in addition to the activities that we do at party level.
"Some of the efforts that I have made have been directly as a result of being an elected vice-president of the European People's Party where we held a special meeting here in Dublin dealing with tax competition.
"I'm very happy with the range of activity that we have covered throughout the country," he said.
The Fine Gael press office subsequently released a list yesterday of 43 Lisbon Treaty events in which Mr Kenny has participated since January 24th.
These included meetings with commission president José Manuel Barroso and German chancellor Angela Merkel, and Lisbon debates at university and party rallies.
Mr Kenny criticised the Government for what he portrayed as its failings in respect of the Yes campaign, "in a situation where it's difficult enough to deal with misinformation and negative facts that have been allowed to fester because the Government refused to name a date for this referendum as far back as November and December".
