A majority of Irish people would vote "Yes" in a planned second referendum on the European Union's reform treaty, a poll showed today.
Ireland's rejection last year of the treaty -- a successor to the defunct EU constitution and aimed at improving decision-making in Brussels -- has slowed integration efforts just as EU backers say the 27-country bloc needs to show it can take quick, coordinated action to tackle the financial crisis.
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said last month he was prepared to hold another vote on the treaty on the basis of concessions Dublin has secured.
The Sunday Independent/Quantum Research poll showed 55 percent would back the treaty in a fresh referendum, up from 39 percent canvassed in the last survey conducted in December.
The share of "No" voters dropped to 30 percent from 37 percent in December, and those who were undecided fell to 15 percent from 24 percent last month.
Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said last month the government expected to get formal EU guarantees on issues of concern to Irish voters by June.
A draft EU document on the assurances had suggested a second referendum would be held by the end of October.
The concessions include the retention of a permanent commissioner, and others in the sensitive areas of military neutrality, taxation policy and workers' rights. They were made as part of an effort to have all 27 member states ratify the treaty by January 1, 2010.
Cowen faces mounting public opposition over the handling of an economy suffering from a recession which the government predicted this week would be the deepest since records began. It expects a return to positive growth only in 2011.
Analysts say pro-treaty groups will bank on voters seeking shelter at the heart of Europe, while the 'No' camp will hope an increasingly disgruntled electorate will give the government a second slap in the face.
The poll showed support for the ruling Fianna Fail party had dropped to 28 percent from 36 percent in the last survey on that issue conducted in August. The leading opposition Fine Gael party's support rose to 27 percent from 23 percent in August, the poll showed.
The Sunday Independent/Quantum Research poll was conducted by telephone on Friday among 500 households.