The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin and Glendalough, the Most Rev John Neill, has said people in eastern Europe "see membership of the European Union a real step forward and an undergirding of the freedom that they have achieved only within the last decade".
Addressing the diocesan synod in Taney Hall, Dundrum, last night he continued: "They are asking questions that come down very simply to 'What is Ireland now doing about this?'"
Through his involvement over recent years with the Nordic and Baltic churches, who with Anglicans in these islands are part of the Porvoo Communion of Churches, he had "occasion to visit some of the states which were formally part of the eastern bloc.
"I have heard it expressed by ordinary people, by church leaders, and by senior political figures that it is vital for some of these countries to enter the European Union.
"They are feeling isolated at being no longer part of anything larger, and more importantly their freedom of the last decade or more is very fragile, and there are many that would suck them back into totalitarianism."
Acknowledging an Irish sense of alienation towards European affairs, he said: "We must be honest that we were all very good Europeans when we were among the poorest parts of what was then the European Community. We gained so much, particularly in the areas of agriculture and infrastructure.
"The story is now different. Many more nations, far worse off than us, as well as far larger than us, have all appeared on the scene awaiting entry. We see our own influence waning, and we see more of European directives than of structural funding and agricultural subsidies.
"Coupled with the general alienation from political structures, the Nice vote could be determined by apathy or anger rather than an engagement with the real issues."
It was vital that Irish people did not let apathy determine the result of the referendum. "On the other hand, it is vital that anger and frustration, and tough economic realities do not allow a vote out of mere selfishness. Whatever way a person votes, let that vote be thoughtfully worked through, but in the realisation that our domestic scene is not all that counts," the Archbishop said.
On the economy he said: "We are at last being told in this Republic the truth that most have realised for a long time - the Celtic Tiger has fled our shores. It is not hard to imagine the casualties in terms of job loss, social exclusion and debt that will result."
But he pleaded "for no cuts whatever in the health budgets. It has been proved frequently that the public are prepared to support a real attempt to provide better healthcare. An example of this is the superb public response when there has been an opportunity in one centre or another to provide advanced technology to hospitals. In these cases, a substantial amount of the funding has come directly from the local community."
On the North he said: "The unionist population is experiencing a significant degree of alienation at the present time. This is not a Protestant-Catholic divide; this is about the identity of the majority population in Northern Ireland.
"The isolation of the unionist population, in that they have nobody to speak for them on the international scene except themselves, is causing deep anger and hurt, and it is being expressed in all sorts of different ways."
