- guardian.co.uk, Friday 22 June 2001 01.48 BST
Before leaving Brussels, he insisted that he would not be pressing Irish voters to change their minds about the EU's latest treaty.
The unexpected 54% to 46% No vote on June 7, on a turnout of just 34% in what has long been one of the union's most Europhile countries, has been widely seen as a wake-up call to governments which take support for the union for granted.
"You must feel yourselves free to choose, and there cannot be pressure or arm-twisting or blackmail," Mr Prodi told the Irish Times, promising to listen carefully during his three-day visit.
But he caused controversy, and some confusion, by arguing that it was not legally necessary for the treaty to be ratified for the union to take in new members from eastern Europe.
Admitting the 12 candidate countries, he said, would require only "some notes of change, some clause".
Supporters of Nice have always claimed that without last December's bitterly contested agreement between the EU's existing 15 governments new members could not join.
But commission officials said that up to five countries could enter under the provisions of the 1997 Amsterdam treaty, though without the vital institutional changes, such as the size of the com mission and number of Euro-MPs, agreed at Nice.
Revamped voting weights for the member states - a crucial change - would have to be dealt with.
It is now thought that as many as 10 of the applicants could join in 2004 or 2005.
Brussels is aghast at the thought of Ireland having to vote repeatedly until the desired result is achieved.
It is the only member state required by its constitution to hold a referendum on the treaty.
Mr Prodi said he was concerned that the referendum result might be a sign of deeper discontent. "The problem is, has the Irish attitude towards Europe changed?" he asked.
"This is my real point. It is even more serious than a No to Nice."
He dismissed a suggestion yesterday by the Irish attorney general, Michael McDowell, that the EU was taking on the attributes of a "superstate" - the phrase used by British Eurosceptics.
In Berlin Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said Ireland's rejection of the treaty showed the need to engage citizens more in EU decisions.
"Whatever the reasons might have been for the negative result of the referendum, one thing cannot be overlooked: not only in Ireland, but also in other member countries, many people still have more questions than answers about Europe," he told the Reichstag.
"The debate about the future of Europe must be broad and must not be only led by governments."
