Vote gives Irish PM breathing space

Mired in domestic political difficulties, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern received a much-needed boost from the resounding 'yes' vote in the second referendum on the Nice Treaty on EU enlargement.

Ahern appeared relieved and smiled broadly as he spoke to journalists yesterday after a patriotic ceremony commemorating an 18th century uprising in Sallins, County Kildare.

He said he was delighted the Irish people had given "an emphatic yes" to EU enlargement in Saturday's referendum.

"We have to get on with the economic issues," he said in response to a question on what his political priority was now.

The prime minister or Taoiseach, as his role is known in Irish, saw his approval ratings plummet recently when it was revealed he had ignored warnings and appointed a foreign minister who was later found by an official tribunal to have received corrupt payments.

His popularity was also hit by allegations his party concealed the failing state of the economy and public finances in the run-up to this summer's general election.

Tax receipts were 11 per cent down for the first eight months of this year and the government has indicated there will have to be spending cuts in the forthcoming budget.

Ahern had previously earned himself the nickname "Teflon Taoiseach", because of his ability to survive earlier political scandals involving members of his party.

But he has faced increasing public ire as the scandals mounted and Ireland's economic situation deteriorated.

"His Teflon qualities had been reduced in recent months," said Miriam Donohoe, political writer with a leading broadsheet, the Irish Times. "There was quite a bit of dissatisfaction within the party with his performance as Taoiseach," she added.

Some commentators even suggested Ahern could face a challenge to his leadership if the treaty was rejected.

"He really needed this badly... this will give him a lot of breathing space, a couple of months at least," said Gene McKenna, political editor of the Irish Independent.

McKenna said that in the longer term, Ahern's survival will depend on whether he can get the economy and public finances back on track.

Ahern himself noted yesterday the government faced "more difficult times" economically and said "we have to give our total attention to that now".

Ahern may also face increased scrutiny in future from the opposition, which has given the government an easy ride of late for fear of encouraging the public to reject the Nice Treaty, which most of the opposition also support.

"We have been fighting this government for the last number of months with one hand behind our back. We will now be able to take the fight in a much more volatile way to the government," Enda Kenny, leader of the biggest opposition party, Fine Gael, told Reuters yesterday.