The Government has repeated its determination to sign up for involvement in the NATO-led Partnership for Peace in the autumn, without a referendum.
As his Department published an explanatory guide on PfP yesterday, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, said the decision against a referendum was "based on crystal-clear legal advice". Participation in PfP "would be in full accordance with our policy of military neutrality," he told the Dail.
But opponents of Irish involvement in PfP dismissed the Government guide published yesterday as one-sided, misleading and dishonest.
At a press briefing on the guide, a senior Government official described PfP as "a voluntary framework of co-operation between NATO and non-NATO states". Each state could decide the nature and scope of its involvement.
The Government would formulate a "presentation document" outlining the nature and scope of proposed Irish participation in PfP in the autumn, he said. This would then be presented to the Dail for approval.
PfP was not an organisation that would launch missions, he went on, but a framework through which armed forces of various states would train together. "It is a matter for Ireland to determine what it wants to do in accordance with its capability.
"There will be no imposition from the centre. Participation in an overseas action is a sovereign decision for Ireland subject to the approval of the Dail and a UN mandate."
The Government guide reproduces the advice given by the Attorney General, Mr David Byrne, to the effect that no referendum is required. It also publishes the documents setting out the level of participation by the other four European neutral or non-aligned states: Finland, Austria, Sweden and Switzerland.
Mr Andrews said participation in PfP would be "of considerable benefit in ensuring that our Defence Forces remain at the forefront of best practice in UN peacekeeping."
He said: "PfP is not in conflict with our traditional support for United Nations peacekeeping operations, nor will PfP hamper our continuing commitment to UN peacekeeping outside Europe. Participation in PfP will enhance the ability of the Defence Forces to meet the challenges of UN peacekeeping in the next century."
But Labour's foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, repeated his party's call for a referendum. "The people of Ireland are entitled to know the issues of principle involved, and the detailed terms of any relationship proposed by the Government, and to make the final decision. Any other course would be a flagrant breach of the commitments made by the Government prior to the last election and a kick in the teeth for democracy."
His running-mate for the European Parliament in the Dublin constituency, Ms Bernie Malone, also called for a referendum.
The Green Party MEP Ms Patricia McKenna said the guide "tries to hide the fact that PfP was set up to help facilitate the expansion of NATO in central and eastern Europe". NATO's own documents, she said, state that PfP will play "an important role in the evolutionary process of the expansion of NATO".
The Socialist Party deputy Mr Joe Higgins said the Government guide was "utterly dishonest." The whole tenor of it denied there were military implications for Ireland in joining PfP.
Ireland and the Partnership for Peace: An Explanatory Guide is published by the Department of Foreign Affairs. It is free and can be ordered by phoning (01) 408 2595 or (01) 408 2050. It will also be available in public libraries.