First let me thank you for your kind invitation to be here today. I greatly appreciate the efforts of this Centre to enhance awareness of European law issues among legal practitioners – and indeed among others with an interest in this area.

The incoming Irish Presidency of the EU of January to June last year was given a major new task. The European Council of mid-December 2003 had failed to reach agreement on a new European Constitution. Initially our brief as incoming Presidency was to explore the issues and see if negotiations could be restarted.

Many people were sceptical that a restart was possible. There was talk that it could take a year or more to rebuild the necessary trust and momentum. So in one way we benefited from modest expectations. But equally, we knew that if we didn’t make a real effort our whole Presidency could suffer in the eyes both of our partners and of domestic commentators.

So, whether we liked it or not, negotiating the Constitution became a major priority of our Presidency - among many other demanding responsibilities.

And, as the record shows, we did succeed. By patiently exploring the issues with everyone, we managed to build up sufficient confidence that a deal was possible. This allowed the March 2004 European Council to give the go-ahead to resume the Intergovernmental Conference, the EU forum for the negotiations.

Then, between April and June, we moved into a higher gear. We continued speaking to everyone privately and at all levels. In addition, in my then capacity of Minister for Foreign Affairs, I chaired three Ministerial meetings, which addressed the outstanding issues. Our aim was to sort out as many issues as possible – and, on the hard core which remained, to develop a collective sense of what was reasonable and achievable.

As you know, the Taoiseach was able at the European Council on 18 June 2004 to bridge the remaining gaps and secure agreement. It was six months after the previous breakdown. At times it felt more like six years!

It was a remarkably challenging and exciting period. Self-praise is no praise – but I do note with satisfaction the plaudits others bestowed on us, not just for our part in negotiating the Constitution but for the Presidency as a whole.

I genuinely believe that what we did during the Presidency helped to further bolster the image of Ireland as a dynamic, effective, modern country - and banish any negative perceptions which may have lingered after the first Nice referendum experience.

I think there are some more general lessons we can draw from the Presidency and from the Constitutional negotiations which ought to be borne in mind as we, and the Union, move forward.

First, the Presidency was conclusive evidence of the role that small countries can play in the Union. If a small country is efficient and well-prepared, it can play a highly influential role. Nine of the ten new Member States are small. And, just as our economic performance has helped make us a role model for them, so too our performance as Presidency shows that they too need have nothing to fear in playing their parts as future leaders.

Second, the Intergovernmental Conference was the first major challenge faced by the enlarged Union that came into being on 1 May 2004 when 10 new Members States formally joined the EU.

If no agreement had been reached, there would have been questions as to whether a larger Union could work. In the event, within two months of enlargement, the Union of twenty-five crossed its first hurdle. There will be many more to come. But there is no reason to believe that any should be insuperable.

Third, the success of the negotiations emphasises the importance of a community spirit. The Union works overwhelmingly by patient consensus-building. This can be tedious and slow. It requires patience to sit and listen and to accept that progress may happen only in small increments. It also requires an acceptance that one cannot win total victories – indeed that the only victories which endure are those in which everyone has a stake.

We went out of our way to talk to everyone – to understand their concerns. And they accepted our good faith. But I also stressed the need for open discussion. People could see what others felt and what others needed.

When in the end it became necessary to make final calls, to put our final texts on the table, nobody could argue that we had not heard their point of view, or accuse us of bias.

One of the changes contained in the Constitution is a more equitable and more efficient majority voting system. But while this is indispensable, I very much hope and believe that future Presidencies will still make every effort to build maximum consensus.

Negotiating the Constitution was one challenge. Ratifying it is another. As you know, we will have a referendum at some point before the target date of 1 November 2006 for entry into force. We are determined to have a full and open debate – building on the excellent work already done by the National Forum on Europe, among others. On this occasion we will be less lonely than during previous referendums – at least nine partners look like holding them, with Spain having successfully held the first referendum last month.

I believe that in the Irish and the European debate the case for the Constitution will come through strongly and convincingly. There are many arguments to advance. But today I will offer five.

A first reason for supporting the European Constitution is that it introduces much greater clarity. It replaces the tangle of existing Treaties with a single document. The Union’s basic values, objectives, principles and powers are set out more clearly than before. There is still a great deal of detail which it was legally necessary to carry forward. But it is much more lucid and coherent than previous Treaties in describing what the Union is and does.

And while the Constitution makes some important changes, it does not substantially alter the current nature of the Union. It is made crystal clear that the Union only has the powers which its Member States have chosen, unanimously, to give it – basically he same powers as in the current Treaties.

The document is a Constitution in as much as it sets down in one place the basic law of the Union, just as national constitutions set down the basic law of Member States. But in legal form the Constitution remains a Treaty between sovereign independent countries.

A second reason for supporting the European Constitution is that it helps make the European Union more democratic and open. The role of national parliaments is enhanced. The rights of the European Parliament are increased. The Council of Ministers will meet in public when considering legislative proposals. And there are arrangements to strengthen and formalise dialogue with the social partners, with civil society and with the Churches.

A third reason for supporting the European Constitution – and one of particular interest to lawyers - is that it strengthens the rights of individual citizens. The Charter of Fundamental Rights is an integral part of the Constitution. It lists all of the rights and principles to be respected and observed, from classical civil and political rights to social and economic rights.

I should be clear. The Charter will apply to the EU institutions and to the Member States when they are implementing Union law. It is not intended to create new powers for the Union. It does not apply in the purely domestic arena, where the rights set out in national constitutions remain supreme. But it will help ensure that the European Union is held to account and observes the highest standards.

Moreover, the EU as a whole is to become party to the European Convention on Human Rights – the Strasbourg Court will be an external monitor of the Union’s human rights record.

A fourth reason for supporting the European Constitution is that it allows the Union’s institutions to function more effectively in an enlarged and still growing Union.

We have a strong interest in a dynamic and effective Commission. It was already agreed at Nice that to maintain one Commissioner per Member State indefinitely into the future would, with enlargement, make future Commissions too large and unwieldy. Now it has been settled that from 2014, two-thirds of the Member States will have Commissioners at any one time. But, crucially, Commissioners are to be nominated on the basis of absolute equality of rotation between the Member States.

I already mentioned the new voting system in the Council, which is fairer, clearer, more logical, and more effective than what it replaces.

Member States will continue to chair most Councils on the basis of equal rotation. But new posts of President of the European Council, President of the Eurogroup and the Union Foreign Minister are being created. These will consolidate existing functions and should bring more coherence and continuity to the Union’s business.

My fifth reason for supporting the European Constitution is that it is intended to bring to an end for a considerable time the constant renegotiation of the Union’s Treaties. Over the last twenty years, there have been four new Treaties. Very often, the same issues were kicked from one Intergovernmental Conference to the next. But this time, there are no “left-overs”.

The Constitution has within it the flexibility needed to adapt to future change. This enables the Union to stop its introspection - and refocus on issues like jobs, growth, the environment, cross-border crime, and contributing to global peace and stability.

Ireland’s experience of the EU has been immensely positive. It should remain so, if as a country we have the confidence, the self-belief and the capacity to seize our opportunities, and indeed to help to shape them.

The European Constitution does not of itself ensure that the Union will continue to thrive and to serve all its people’s interests – any more than our own Constitution determines our success as a nation. But it establishes clear and enduring foundations for a successful future together.

I am proud that I had a part in negotiating it.

As you know, no date has yet been set for our national referendum. The Government is keeping all the relevant factors under careful review and will come to a decision at the appropriate time. We are determined that there be adequate time and space for public debate and for an energetic campaign.

The role of the social partners and other civil society organisations was particularly important in the second Nice Referendum. I welcome the recent unanimous decision of the IBEC Council to support the Constitution and I look forward to working with them, and with others, in the referendum campaign.

Preparatory work on the wording of an amendment to Bunreacht na hÉireann, to allow for Ireland's ratification of the European Constitution, is proceeding well. I hope that, as on previous occasions, it will be possible to reach a broad positive consensus within the Oireachtas on this very important matter for the future of our country.

Of particular significance is the work of the Referendum Commission. Under our law the Commission has the two-fold duty of developing a public understanding of the issues and encouraging voter turnout.

During the second Nice referendum, the Commission spent its budget mainly on television, radio and cinema advertising, and on the production and circulation of two short information leaflets. In its report it acknowledged that for that Referendum it had been established with sufficient time to do its work – something which has not always been the case.

The Referendum Commission can only be established after the Referendum Bill has been published – but on this occasion too we are acutely mindful of the need to ensure that it has both the time and resources which it requires for its task of informing all of our citizens.

Work is also under way on the preparation of a comprehensive White Paper on the European Constitution, which will explain its provisions in detail. The Government will be preparing summary information material also for nationwide distribution.

The text of the Constitution can be read on the Department of Foreign Affairs website, and printed copies will be available, free of charge, to the public.

The political task of making the case for the Constitution is for the parties and others.

The main arguments to be made in favour of the European Constitution are the same in Ireland as in the rest of the European Union, and are as I have already outlined to you earlier in this address.

These arguments are all potent. But it will not be enough simply to state them. Two further elements will be vital in our communications strategy. First, we need to offer reassurances that some of the claims made by the opponents of the Constitution are unfounded. Secondly, we need to connect the debate about the Constitution to the Irish people's sense of what Europe is, and what it has meant for us.

Already, some are asserting that the European Constitution radically changes the nature of the Union. This is simply untrue. The reality is well stated in a recent information booklet produced by the French Government. “The European Constitution does not involve a major extension of the competences conferred on the Union”. It “represents a codification and reordering of existing arrangements without profound change”.

Some have suggested that by calling this new Treaty a Constitution we are somehow signalling the end of Bunreacht na hÉireann - the Irish Constitution. The reality is very simple. Bunreacht na hÉireann remains the basic legal text of our State. The European Constitution will be the basic legal text of the European Union. It will apply only to those areas where we have voluntarily, and by referendum of our people, agreed to share sovereignty.

There has also been an attempt to scare-monger about the primacy of Union law. Again, this principle dates back 40 years. Since 1972, Bunreacht na hÉireann has allowed for the primacy of European law. But, to be clear, this only applies in those areas where the Member States have unanimously and voluntarily agreed to confer powers on the European Union. And without the principle of primacy there would be legal anarchy.

Again, some talk of the European Constitution as paving the way for a federal superstate. But it is made quite clear that the EU only has the powers conferred on it by the Member States, and that powers not so conferred rest with the Member States themselves. All individual Member States retain a veto on future change. And many of the most sensitive decisions - such as on tax policy and defence – remain unanimous within the new Constitution.

Then it is alleged that small Member States will lose influence. Well, there are now 19 small states on the European Council as against 6 big states – a very clear majority. And the huge success of the Irish Presidency demonstrated that small countries can, and do, have a profound influence.

Finally, I am sure that we will hear more claims about the militarization of the European Union and about threats to our neutrality. Absolutely nothing in the European Constitution will change our traditional policy of military neutrality and the triple lock upon the deployment of Irish troops overseas. Decisions on security and defence within the EU remain absolutely unanimous.

The aims and objectives of European security and defence policy are to do with things that Ireland and the United Nations value – peace-keeping, conflict prevention, and combating international terrorism. Europe needs to play a role in the world, for defined purposes and within defined limits. The European Constitution will help improve its ability to do so, on behalf of all of the people of Europe.

In simple terms, the European Union is a success story – not without its flaws and problems, but a success story nonetheless. Europe is richer, freer, and more peaceful than at any time in its history. It is widely seen as a model for the new and globalised world of the 21st century.

The Irish people know that as well as, if not better than, anybody else. That is the reason why underlying attitudes are so positive here. Ireland has done remarkably well, as a member of the European Union. It has helped to transform people's lives. And it continues to be vital to our future development.

We in Ireland have seen our lives transformed in recent years. On the economic plane we have gone from being one of the poorest Member States of the Union to one of the most prosperous.

This economic transformation has been facilitated greatly by our membership of the EU. It is not simply the financial transfers, though there have been important. It is also the opportunities that the EU has provided for our small open dynamic trading economy.

We have guaranteed, unimpeded access to the EU market of some 450 million consumers. We have shown the initiative to benefit fully from this access, through the exports both of our indigenous enterprises and of the many US and other multinationals that have chosen Ireland as their gateway to the European market.

As you no doubt are aware, we will move to being a net contributor to the EU Budget, possibly by the end of this decade. This is to be expected in the light of our prosperity. But let us keep the larger picture of the overall economic benefits to us of EU membership very much in mind. The huge trading, investment, employment and growth benefits we have drawn, and continue to draw from membership are undeniable, on any objective assessment.

It is therefore greatly in Ireland’s interest and also in the EU’s interest that the EU should continue to function effectively and be able to meet upcoming challenges. The new Constitution basically provides the framework for facilitating this into the future.

The European Constitution seeks to improve and modernise the European Union, as it now is, to bring it closer to its people. It does not destroy the checks and balances which make it unique and which protect the national interests of all of its members.

Ireland played a key role in shaping the European Constitution. We have every reason to endorse the new European Constitution, and no reason whatever to block it, or to be negative about the most democratic document yet produced in the long history of Europe. I am confident that the Irish people, when they come to vote in the referendum, will recognise this and will support the Constitution with a strong “yes” vote.

Thank you for your attention.