A leaked email [sent to the British government by Elizabeth Green, a senior UK diplomat in Dublin, following a briefing from Dan Mulhall, a top offical in the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs] shows that [the Irish] ministers are planning a deliberate campaign of misinformation to ensure that the Lisbon Treaty vote is passed when it is put to the public as required by the [Irish] Constitution.
Foreign Affairs minister Dermot Ahern has even been personally assured that the European Commission will ‘tone down or delay’ any announcements from Brussels ‘that might be unhelpful’. […]
Ireland is the only EU state which is allowing voters a say on the treaty, and European heads of state are terrified that they will reject it. […] [The leaked memo] pointed out that the [Irish] Government plans to keep people from analysing the details [of the Treaty], saying the ‘aim is to focus the campaign on overall benefits of the EU rather than the treaty itself’. […] The memo refers to plans to fool campaigners over the date and states: ‘Irish have picked 29 May for voting but will delay an announcement to keep the No camp guessing. […]
It added that during a trip to Dublin, [EU Commission] Vice-President Margot Wallstrom ‘had told Dermot Ahern that the commission was willing to tone down or delay messages that might be unhelpful’.