DUBLIN: Electoral gains by opponents of the Nice European Union enlargement treaty have complicated the Irish government’s task of convincing voters who rejected the treaty last year to change their minds in a second referendum.

The hardline nationalist Sinn Fein, which spearheaded the anti-treaty campaign last year, advanced to five seats in last Friday’s election while the Green Party won six. The most pro-Europe party, the opposition Fine Gael, suffered a meltdown.

Ireland threw the EU’s expansion plans into turmoil last June when a referendum rejected the treaty, aimed at reshaping the bloc’s institutions to cope with the admission of a dozen new members.

An opinion poll just before the Irish election showed declining pro-treaty sentiment and gains for opponents, with about a third in favour, a third against and a third undecided.

Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who swept into office for a second term with the biggest mandate in years, has said he will hold another referendum on the treaty, probably in October.

But Ireland’s most popular prime minister in decades has his work cut out for him.

Daniel Keohane, a researcher with the Centre for European Reform in London, had no doubt of the vote’s importance.

The Nice Treaty has been ratified by the parliaments of the other 14 EU member states.

Ireland, which alone of the current EU member states must ratify such treaties by referendum, rejected the treaty last June by a vote of 54 to 46 per cent. If it is not approved by the end of the year, the treaty will expire.

LACKLUSTRE CAMPAIGN: The reasons for Ireland’s rejection of the treaty were complex. Some critics said it would infringe on the country’s tradition of military neutrality. Both Sinn Fein and the Greens take that view.