No exact date has yet been set for Ireland's second referendum on Nice, but the poll is expected to take place some time in late October. In June of last year, voters rejected the terms of the Treaty by 56% to 46%, although only 35% of the RoI's electorate actually voted.

Without Ireland's agreement on the terms of the Treaty, the accession of 10 - mainly Eastern European - states into the EU next year becomes a great deal more complicated, as Nice contains internal reforms to permit new applicants to join the European bloc.

According to a Reuters report released on Friday, Ireland's tax receipt surplus stands at 952 million euros, a third of the level of last year, and tax collected was 11% down for the January to August period. 'That combined with unemployment continuing to rise and high-profile plant closures have created a grim mood,' the news agency observed.

Irish voters are said to be angered by the fact that Mr Ahern failed to flag up the weakening state of the economy prior to May's general election, in which the coalition government was re-elected.

However, various media commentators have warned the public not to confuse the two issues when voting on Nice:

'It would be a travesty if the Nice referendum were defeated because the government had made false promises in the general election,' the Irish Times observed on Friday.