DUBLIN — Ireland appeared set to approve a new European fiscal treaty in a closely watched referendum, offering the region’s leaders a rare reprieve from the string of recent blows against the crisis-hit euro zone.
Based on preliminary tallies, Transport Minister Leo Varadkar said those in favor of the treaty appeared to be winning roughly 57 percent of the vote, with those against standing at 43 percent. Turnout was relatively low, with roughly half of Ireland’s 3.1 million voters staying home.

The official counting was still continuing, with the final tally expected later Friday.
The referendum is being seen as a test of will in Europe to surrender some national rights in the name of binding the economies of the euro zone more closely together. Nations linked by the new treaty would need to advise European Union officials before issuing new debt, and face tough fines and directives to make fresh budget cuts if they exceed strict deficit limits.
The fiscally conservative Germans in particular have called ratification of the treaty, inked in January, essential to ending years of overspending and overborrowing by their profligate neighbors. The pact’s passage, they have argued, would also be necessary before they will begin to consider the kind of radical cures for the crisis being called for now by a host of major figures, including Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank. Among those cures are direct European aid for the region’s ailing banks, the issuance of collective debt through eurobonds that would act as a sort of U.S. Treasury bond for Europe, and a regionwide bank deposit insurance program similar to the FDIC.
The streets of Dublin this week were lined with placards begging the Irish to vote yes or no. Those campaigning against the treaty had argued that the budget cuts forced on this nation by the terms of its $113 billion international bailout have already crippled the economy, and that pledging years more through the treaty would only make things worse. Led by Sein Fein, the political arm of the Irish Republican Army, opponents also called the treaty a dangerous forfeiture of national sovereignty that would see the E.U. become Ireland’s fiscal master.
But many Irish, like Pauline McCarthy, a 65-year-old mother of three who voted Thursday at a polling station in north Dublin, said the choice boiled down to one issue: stability. In a country now being propped up by the grace of a lifeline from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, the Irish government has forcefully argued a rejection would panic investors and cut off any chance of future bailouts from the E.U.
“We need stability, we need our spending to be under control for once, and the E.U. will be watching how the money is spent,” she said. “Ireland has hugely benefited by being a part of the E.U.; we wouldn’t have motorways or other things if it weren’t for them. The point now is, Enough with the waste, and I think the treaty will be a good thing.”
Under Irish law, the ceding of fresh powers to the E.U. requires a referendum, making Ireland the only nation in the 17-country euro zone to hold a vote on the treaty. Most of the other signer nations require only parliamentary approval for ratification.