Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission, has warned that the European Union's ambitious plans to admit new members would be 'dead' should Irish voters reject a key treaty in October.
Speaking in Singapore yesterday, Mr Prodi stoked up his rhetoric about the disastrous consequences that could follow a 'no' vote, in effect saying that the republic's voters could derail the EU's entire expansion drive.
The Nice Treaty, which Irish voters have already rejected once in a referendum held in June last year, must be ratified by all 15 member countries by the end of this year.
The document, negotiated by EU leaders in December 2000, paves the way for the EU's expansion to the east and south, altering its decision-making procedures and boosting the use of qualified majority voting.
The treaty has been ratified by 14 nations' parliaments, but Ireland was the only member state to put it to the popular vote.
'It was badly lost,' Mr Prodi said of last year's poll in Ireland. 'The [Irish] government did not campaign, the political parties did not campaign because they felt that they were sure to win.'