Ireland to vote in favour of EU fiscal treaty: poll

(DUBLIN) - The Irish public would vote in favour of the European Union's fiscal pact in a forthcoming referendum, according to an opinion poll to be published Sunday.

Around 44 percent would vote in favour and 29 percent against a pact designed to strengthen the euro, according to the Sunday Business Post/Red C poll, while just over a quarter of the 1,000 people asked said they were undecided.

Prime Minister Enda Kenny announced a referendum on the pact, which would place near-automatic sanctions on governments that failed to balance their budgets, on Tuesday following advice from the Attorney General.

The vote will be watched closely by Ireland's EU partners as the country has previously sent shockwaves through Europe on treaty plans, having had to vote twice before it passed two founding EU treaties, the Nice and Lisbon accords.

In November 2010, Ireland had to seek an 85-billion-euro ($112-billion) rescue package from the EU and the IMF when massive debt and deficit problems left it on the verge of collapse.

Any state which fails to ratify the new pact, which comes into effect once 12 states have ratified, will lose the right to future EU bailouts.

Diplomats in Brussels have also warned that a rejection of the treaty would have serious consequences for Ireland because European payments for the EU/IMF bailout would be halted.

Kenny signed the treaty in Brussels on Friday along with the leaders of all EU members except Britain and the Czech Republic, but it cannot be ratified by Ireland without a 'yes' vote in the referendum.

The Irish premier said he expected to announce a date for the vote next week.

Kenny's Fine Gael party and its coalition partner Labour are in favour of the treaty, as are the main Fianna Fail opposition party.

The republican Sinn Fein, the Socialist Party and a number of independents are against.