The Taoiseach said it is payback time for generosity shown to Ireland by Europe, as the Government this afternoon launched its referendum campaign to ratify the Nice Treaty.
He said the consequences of a 'no' vote would be seen as very ungenerous of Ireland.
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"This is our opportunity to give an opportunity to the peoples of the former Eastern Europe," he said.
Mr Bertie Ahern said the treaty is about enlarging and extending the European Union and dismissed claims by campaigners opposing it as bearing little or no relationship to reality.
"The Treaty of Nice will not create a two-tier Europe. It will not create a European army and it would not create a European super-state," he said.
If the treaty was passed on June 7th, Mr Ahern said Ireland would continue to determine its own polices on key issues such as taxation.
He urged Irish people not to be influenced by unfounded fears or reckless claims - many of which were made before by the long-standing opponents of Irish membership of the EU.
The treaty paves the way for EU enlargement to 27 members and must be ratified by the 15 EU countries by the end of 2002.
