Irish opponents of EU Lisbon treaty 'gaining ground'

Anti-Europe campaigners targeting Taoiseach Brian Cowen in battle to sway voters, says government adviser
Irish finance minister Brian Cowen
Opponents of the EU Lisbon treaty have targeted Taoiseach Brian Cowen. Photograph: Julien Behal/PA

Opponents of the EU Lisbon treaty have gained ground over the last 48 hours by linking the vote to the unpopularity of the ruling coalition, an Irish government adviser told the Guardian today.

The adviser warned the outcome would be "tight" because of the No camp's strategy to target Brian Cowen, the Irish taoiseach.

A prominent billboard displayed on the northern approach roads into Dublin city centre shows a picture of Cowen and reads: "The only jobs Lisbon saves are his".

The depth of opposition to the Lisbon treaty was evident todayon the streets of central Dublin. As a Luas tram halted at the junction of North Abbey Street and O'Connell Street at lunchtime an elderly lady, heavily made-up and wearing a pink beret banged on the windows to get passengers' attention. As they looked out she waved a cardboard cutout of the Irish Tricolour flag with the message: "I voted No".

In the north inner-city area of Smithfield opinion on the treaty seemed divided evenly. The district close to Dublin's Four Courts symbolises the demise of the Celtic Tiger boom. Luxury apartments, a five-star hotel and organic food shops belong to a bygone era. Today the main hotel is closed, the only shops left are a Paddy Power betting office and a convenience store. Residents joke that all they are waiting for now is the tumbleweed.

The manager of one of the few remaining restaurants Joe Forkan took a straw poll of his customersthis lunchtime, to find out how they voted or were going to vote.

Forkan, a pro-European, admitted there had been a surprising number of people coming through the doors of Christophes restaurant in Duck Lane, adjacent to the Jameson Irish Whiskey museum.

"I found that generally the fears of military neutrality is playing on people's minds. It's a mixed sort of feeling on it, a lot of older people are not convinced by it. A lot of people told me they voted no.

"Personally, I'm voting yes because you hear all these big businesses like Intel urging us to stay connected to Europe. We feel being right in the heart of Smithfield in front of the Jameson Distillery that we should support Europe. We're gaining from Europe by the tourist trade and so we want to give a little back.

Apart from stirring up anti-Irish government feeling in the last few days, sections of the No campaign have exploited fears over EU expansion. Outside Croke Park stadium, the home of Irish Gaelic sports and the Republic's soccer team, the Catholic far-right movement Coir erected posters that said: "Hello Lisbon – Hello Turkey?"

Today's best video

Today in pictures

More from Europe votes

Across Europe, voters in 27 countries are going to the polls to choose a total of 736 MEPs to represent them for the next five years. But what are they all voting for, or against? Are they driven by the desire to find their own voice in the union, or simply to punish their government at a time of economic crisis? Read comment on the passion and fury – not to mention indifference – across a continent from Paris to Warsaw