An organisation representing young farmers and rural youth has called for a Yes vote in the forthcoming referendum on the fiscal stability treaty.
Macra na Feirme said it had adopted the position at its national council meeting last Saturday “in the national interest”.
It said it had taken the view that rules to strengthen the adherence to balanced budgets were “positive and necessary” and were designed “to avoid the mistakes of the past”.
Rural young people wanted to be full and active participants in the European Union, it added.
National president of Macra Alan Jagoe said the call for a Yes vote “should not be construed as a blind endorsement of the Government's performance to date”.
He called on the Government to “uphold the standards that they so strongly endorsed while in opposition”.