The reason the Government took this approach in negotiations is because we believe enlargement will be of benefit to Ireland, a belief shared by all parties in this House. Ending the artificial division of Europe, which lasted for too long after the Second World War, is very much in our interest individually, nationally and collectively in Europe. Europe-wide surveys continue to show more Irish people in favour of enlargement than in most other EU countries. The referendum on the Nice treaty last year confirmed this open, positive attitude among Irish people. Several sessions of the National Forum on Europe, in which distinguished members of the Seanad took an active part, also bear this out.