I felt it wasn't a good idea to sing about a type of suffering for which the locals might well hold me indirectly responsible

Choosing a song is never easy... the rebel repertoire is best avoided, and even non-political standards tend to dwell on unpromising subject like armed robbery in the wild colonial boy and alcoholism in practically all the others.

Lough Rea is not far from the Fields of Athenry, an area which once inspired a catchy tune about starvation, theft, transportation and the break-up of a family.

But apart from the fact that the locals are probably bored to tears with the song, I felt it wasn't a good idea to sing about a type of suffering for which they might well hold me indirectly responsible.

I settled, in the end for the "Irish Rover" - a jaunty look at maritime disaster and mass bereavement and stumbled through it happily enough until I found I couldn't remember what order people died in, and thus, ingloriously conked out.

National mood

My point in all of this was that the process by which we made our initial contacts was entirely random and yet when we did our interviews with the local business community the following morning there was not a hint that the Irish electorate was preparing to throw a spanner in the works of the European process by rejecting the Treaty of Nice.

Only an estimated 30% cast their ballots

The managing director of a family clothing shop was confident of the national mood.

"It's part of the Irish character," he assured me. "We've been helped up ourselves and now we want to help others who are worse off."

A boutique owner's only reservation about the single currency was that it couldn't come quickly enough - trading through sterling would become inconvenient and expensive - and even small children knew the rate of the euro against the Irish pound.

British euro-sceptics, it was suggested, were at best living in the past, at worst touched with lunacy.

A prosperous place

The underlying reasons for Ireland's euro-scepticism are obvious enough. The country's roads and airports alone bear witness to the huge financial benefits which EU membership has brought.

The result said much more about Ireland's relationship with referendums than it did about Ireland's relationship with Europe

And diplomatically it has changed Ireland's horizons, helping to erode its ties to Britain.

Now it's true that that has been changing. Ireland is a prosperous place these days and will soon be a net contributor, not a net beneficiary.

And it's also true that a country with a troubled agriculture sector doesn't feel that what the EU needs is a sudden influx of poor farmers.

There are genuinely-held doubts about whether Ireland's cherished neutrality can survive in a more centralished Union.

Bertie Ahern: Too wily to tell the electorate they got it wrong

But I think the Treaty of Nice result said much more about Ireland's relationship with referendums than it did about Ireland's relationship with Europe.

This is the fifth time the Irish people have been asked to vote on a European matter and two trends have been unmistakeable: declining turnout and declining majorities in favour of the proposition.

The Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, is too wily a character to be caught telling the electorate they got the result wrong - there'll be much talk of listening to their concerns.

But it's likely the European Union will go on preparing for expansion on the assumption that sooner or later Ireland will vote "yes".

In a sense of course it has to, and it's quite likely to turn out to be right when the question is put again next year.

But I can't help feeling that even the euro-enthusiasts of Lough Rea might feel their democratic hackles rising at the thought of being taken too obviously for granted.

I think I'll pay a return visit before Ireland votes again, drawn by something even more intriguing than the prospect of hearing a few songs poured in a smoky room.