Sinn Féin has not ruled out the possibility of a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, though the party says it is premature to discuss it at this stage.
As the party's southern representatives gathered in Howth, Co Dublin, this morning for its two-day strategy meeting, Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald said the Government needed to actively seek a "better deal" before a new referendum could be contemplated.
"There has been a lot of kite-flying over the summer, whether it's about a renewed referendum or getting Lisbon through the back door via the Oireachtas," said Ms McDonald.
"There's one option available to the Government and it is this. They must listen to the people. We have set out very detailed proposals. We want to see them doing their job of work. We want them to represent the views and concerns of the Irish people actively and vigorously. We want them to deliver a result. We have said all along that a better deal is possible. It is still our view."
Ms McDonald said that a simple rerun of Lisbon was not possible, from a political or democratic perspective.
When it was put to her that if Sinn Féin was arguing for a better deal then the inevitable consequence was a second referendum, she said that the process has to be taken in steps.
"The difficulty of the past month is that all of the commentary has been around when will the next referendum be. That is entirely premature.
"The first thing that needs to be done is to address the issues around public services and taxation and neutrality. We want the Government to bring back that better deal. They need to argue for that and do their work.
"After that if those matters are secured, then you can legitimately start to talk about a new referendum but not until that point."
The main focus of the two-day meeting will be on the party's economic policies. Sinn Féin has acknowledged in the past that it has been weak in this policy area and may have led to it losing one of its five Dáil seats in last year's General Election.
The party's Dáil leader, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, said the party had an economics strategy group in place and that it would be reporting back to the ardchomhairle before December's budget.
He said the new economic strategies would be thought-out and would be costed. He also said that Sinn Féin would set up a committee that would monitor cutbacks on public services and how they were affecting the public.
Mr Ó Caoláin criticised the performance of the Government in managing the economy.
"We now have a Taoiseach in office who has no proven record of dealing with the difficult situation that is currently presenting.
"Here we are being presented with real challenges, and we believe this Taoiseach and this Government of all three parties have no proven capacity to address the problems now presenting and no strategy to deal with the crisis."
He said Sinn Féin could rely on the experience of its Northern ministers, though he would not be drawn on if the party would favour an increase in taxes, other than saying that some were not paying their fair share.
Ms McDonald emphasised the prospect of the new economic strategy from the party later this year.
"It's not sufficient for any party of opposition to snipe from the sidelines. The onus is on us to bring forward proposals, and that is what we will do.
"We are coming at this in three parts. There are measures required to stabilise the economy; measures required to stimulate the economy and then we believe measures that are required to reorient the economy over decades.
"We have a strategy group reporting back. There will be detailed concrete submissions. They will be costed. They will be real world. Our objective in all of this is to protect vulnerable people, to protect jobs and to create new jobs, to make sure that our taxation code is equitable and fair, to fund public services."
