The Taoiseach's position in Nice was absolutely correct. He was advised by the Attorney General that it could not be made legally binding and the Taoiseach stated as much at Nice. He would only politically endorse it if it could never be made legally binding. Members of the Parliament were asked to vote on it. We had no translation into any language except French and we had to vote on it within 24 hours, knowing that we could not change a syllable. The charter was passed. We were advised prior to voting that the charter would be the first pillar of an EU constitution at which point I knew I could not support a document that had never been discussed in the Oireachtas, one the Taoiseach expressly said could not be legally binding. I opposed the Nice treaty because we were consistently reminded that we were moving towards a constitution of Europe. I began sending out press releases and, at the time, I would have welcomed an opportunity to come here and talk to Senators.