Ireland will urge its European partners to take a cautious, wait-and-see approach to the situation in the Palestinian territories in the aftermath of the sweeping victory for Hamas in this week's elections.
The ball is now in Hamas's court and Ireland, as well as the rest of the international community, will be watching for signs that the election-winners intend to take a more moderate and measured approach in government than was the case in opposition. Although it was generally accepted that Hamas would do well at the polls and probably be in a position to share power with Fatah, the sheer scale of the victory has come as a surprise.
While there is broad EU agreement on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, there are differences of emphasis, with France, Spain, Sweden and Ireland generally more sympathetic to Palestinian concerns, while the Czech Republic and Italy are closer to Israel.
The Middle East is on the agenda for Monday's meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels. Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern is expected to stress the need to remain calm and "not to rush to conclusions".
The Irish view is that, if Hamas adopts a conciliatory tone in the election aftermath, then the EU should seek ways of encouraging further steps along the path of moderation.
The EU is a member of the Middle East Quartet with the UN, US and Russian Federation. Foreign ministers from the quartet as well as EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana are due to meet in London on Monday to consider the latest dramatic development.
Without naming Hamas, the quartet issued a post-election statement calling on all the Palestinian factions "to renounce violence and terror, accept Israel's right to exist, and disarm".
The EU provides €500 million in aid each year to the Palestinians, but Ireland is taking a cautious approach in response to calls for this aid to be terminated, reduced, or channelled through voluntary agencies rather than the Palestinian Authority.
Stressing that it was still early days, senior political sources said: "There is a difference between funding the Palestinian Authority and funding Hamas as a political party."
However, if Hamas failed to make it "pretty clear" that it was moving away from violence, then there would be "real difficulties" for the EU and other members of the international community.
It was also unclear whether the Hamas election success was primarily a vote for honesty and efficiency in government, and against corruption and waste, or an endorsement of fundamentalist policies.
A pledging conference where donors would commit themselves to provide specific amounts for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian areas has been planned for some time, but the election result has now generated uncertainty over this event which was due to take place in April.
Speaking to The Irish Times, the new Palestinian delegate-general to Ireland, Dr Hikmat Ajjuri, welcomed the "very cautious" approach outlined in a statement from Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern.
"I am calling on everyone to hold their horses and not to rush to judge what has happened," Dr Ajjuri said. He described the election as "a lesson in true democracy in the area".
Stressing the importance of EU aid, Dr Ajjuri said Europe contributed towards paying the salaries of more than 130,000 civil servants working for the Palestinian Authority. In addition to EU funding, the Palestinians needed the political support of the EU countries - "also the Americans".