The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, has confirmed that the party will support the Government referendum on citizenship.
But while Mr Kenny said last night that he was advising Fine Gael supporters to support the referendum, he said the party would not campaign on the referendum because "this sensitive issue should not be politicised in any way".
The party's decision followed a frontbench meeting last night but it was signalled weeks ago by the party's former justice spokesman, Mr John Deasy.
The decision contrasts with the policy of all the other Opposition parties who are set to campaign against the proposal. These include Labour and the Greens, with whom Fine Gael hopes to form a pact in advance of the next general election.
Mr Kenny again expressed reservations about the manner in which the proposal was brought forward by the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, but said his party would support the proposal on the balance of the argument.
Claiming that Mr McDowell deliberately set out to create friction in the Oireachtas and to generate division between parties, Mr Kenny said the Minister "used inflammatory language in the Dáil in a way which brought no credit to the office which he holds".
While Mr Kenny said Fine Gael had explored a number of alternatives to the Government proposal, he went on to cite "independent legal advice" which said there was a potential for abuse of Irish citizenship law under the current provisions in the Constitution. "I am convinced that if Minister McDowell had referred this matter to an all-party committee, substantial cross-party support could have been achieved," he said.
"While the party has serious reservations about the way in which the Government has brought forward this referendum, we are satisfied that a constitutional referendum is necessary to restore the power to legislate for citizenship to the Oireachtas."
Fine Gael was opposed to the timing of the referendum but Mr Kenny said that the wording proposed by the Government would address the issue.
