Fine Gael will oppose the abortion referendum campaign, but conscientious objectors will be able to back it if they so wish, the Parliamentary Party has decided, writes Mark Hennessy.
However, the party leader, Mr Michael Noonan, said the party would not campaign actively on the doorstep against the referendum, which is now expected to be held in early March.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet yesterday decided to delay deciding the referendum's timing until a court challenge against it is dealt with by the High Court and Supreme Court.
The numbers of Irish women travelling annually to the UK for abortions is now so great that it covers one in four of child-bearing age, Mr Noonan said.
"I am reluctant on this occasion to have a door-knocking canvass. I think it would be a bit intrusive to try and tell people on a canvass what way they should vote," he said.
Instead, leading Fine Gael figures will argue against the referendum in broadcast and print interviews and through a "strong, but sensitive" poster and leaflet campaign.
Emphasising that there was little demand from the public for a referendum, Mr Noonan said: "When candidates have tried to raise it people are inclined to shut the door and say that that is a private matter." The inclusion of detailed legislation in the Constitution would cause future difficulties.
"It is impossible to know what the Supreme Court will decide in three or four years with any certainty. They could take a very conservative or a very liberal line," he told The Irish Times.
The legislation passed through the Oireachtas before Christmas, but the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, has not yet signed the order needed to set the date, he said.
The Government's declaration that it wanted to create a consensus was disproved by events, Mr Noonan claimed.
"They did not give an inch during its passage through the Oireachtas."
The motion accepted unanimously by the Parliamentary Party yesterday recommends that the party "oppose the referendum and campaign against it".
"Members who have a conscientious difficulty with this decision will not be required to participate in the campaign and will be free to express their views," Mr Noonan said.
He rejected suggestions that Fine Gael would appear divided. "There are different views in the party, from two different directions. That includes nearly the whole Parliamentary Party. I would expect no more than three or four people to support the referendum," he said.
