(DUBLIN) - Prime Minister Brian Cowen appealed to Irish people Thursday to vote "Yes" in a crunch referendum on the European Union's Lisbon Treaty next month, saying it was of vital national interest.

Cowen, who succeeded Bertie Ahern earlier this month, made the comments in a keynote address three weeks to the day ahead of the June 12 referendum, which is being closely watched by Ireland's EU partners.

EU membership had secured Ireland's independence and had been one of the reasons for the country's success in attracting foreign direct investment and creating sustainable, high-value employment and economic growth, he said.

"Our place in Europe is one of the reasons behind our success," Cowen told a government-sponsored discussion forum in Dublin Castle.

Ireland is the only one of the EU nations to hold a plebiscite on the treaty -- aimed at preventing decision-making gridlock in the expanding bloc -- and a "no" could scupper it altogether.

The treaty -- replacing the bloc's doomed constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005 -- was agreed last December amid much fanfare.

Cowen said it was in Ireland's interest to make sure that the EU continued to adapt to be able to meet the challenges of a changing world. "That is why I believe that a Yes vote on June 12 is in our vital national interest."

He said the EU should not be "demonised" in the Irish debate. Critics have notably suggested that the new EU treaty could threaten Ireland's traditional military neutrality.

Criticism of the treaty is based on the fundamental premise that the EU wants to damage Ireland, he said.

Opponents falsely claimed "that it is a destructive bureaucracy that wants to militarise us, to ruin our economy, to destroy our sovereignty or to introduce a wide range of other damaging changes," he said.

"People are fully entitled to have a bad view of the Union, but they are not entitled to pretend that they are supportive of the Union while accusing it of malign intent towards Ireland," Cowen said.

Cowen has made the treaty campaign his number one priority and has ordered all levels of his party to launch a general election-style drive to get it passed.

Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.