A substantial number of Green Party councillors will support the call by the party leadership to back the Yes campaign at its special convention on the Lisbon Treaty in Dublin on Saturday.
The Irish Timescontacted 21 of the party's 30 local authority members in the South yesterday, and of those 12 said they were definitely going to cast, or were tending towards, a Yes vote.
Only three said they were opposed to the treaty or were definitely veering towards a No vote. Six were undecided.
The strong support for a Yes vote from councillors is unexpected and suggests the leadership may not face as big a challenge as expected in persuading the required two-thirds majority to back its stance.
While all eight members of the parliamentary party have backed the Yes campaign, senior members of the party were of the opinion that a majority was achievable, but not a two-thirds majority.
This was attributed to a sense within the party that the leadership could not as easily carry the vote on Europe - for long a thorny issue within the party - as it did when proposing to enter government.
The reasons given by councillors backing a Yes vote varied.
Some had no difficulty in declaring themselves as pro-European, while others cited strategy reasons and the new responsibilities that come with Government.
There was criticism of the parliamentary party from several councillors, who said its decision to come out as a bloc was unhelpful and sent out the message that it was a fait accompli.
Several critics said it was designed to prevent people going into the meeting with an open mind.
Among those who will be unequivocally supporting the leadership are Cllrs Malcolm Noonan (Kilkenny); Mark Dearey (Louth); Ciarán O'Brien (Wicklow); Brian Meaney (Clare); Tom Kivlehen and Nessa Childers ((Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown); and Robbie Kelly (Fingal).
Those veering towards a Yes vote include Cllrs Neil Ó Brolcháin (Galway); Dominick Donnelly (Passage West); Betty Doran (Mullingar); and Shane Fitzgerald (Leixlip); though he will be absent on the day.
Two have publicly stated they will vote No. They are Bronwen Maher (Dublin) and David Healy (Fingal). However, Cllr Healy will be away on Saturday. Cork councillor Chris O'Leary is also tending towards a No vote.
Three motions will be presented to the membership on Saturday, one calling for a Yes vote; one calling for a No vote; and a third technical motion that will be put forward if there is stalemate. Under the party rules each requires a two-thirds majority.
Senior strategists in the party believe that a majority will back the position of leader John Gormley and the other members of the parliamentary party. However, they accept that gaining 66.6 per cent support will prove difficult.
One senior source in the No camp said the party had gone through a huge culture change in recent year that had resulted in the leadership rather than the ordinary members dictating policy and direction.
