A group of Independent TDs who want Europe's new fiscal treaty put to a referendum will seek to use a little known constitutional provision to petition the President to do so, it has emerged.
Under Article 27 of the Constitution, a Bill can be referred to a referendum if requested by at least one third of the Dáil, and a majority of the Seanad.
Donegal deputy Thomas Pringle said a mechanism contained in Article 27, although never used before, could allow TDs and Senators to petition President Michael D Higgins about the matter.
Mr Pringle said the group would need to support of one-third of all TDs and half of Senators. He calculated the Dáil membership of Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, Independents and ULA amounted to 52 TDs. With 55 deputies required to achieve a third, he conceded the group would require a number of Government TDs to come forward.
In the Seanad, he said Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and Independents amounted to 31 members, and he was "hopeful of achieving the requirement there".
Mr Pringle said if the Government was so convinced it was doing the right thing, it should not be worried about making its arguments to the people.
Meanwhile, The Irish Times has learned the so-called fiscal compact agreed by EU leaders on Monday was specifically crafted to minimise the prospect of a referendum in Ireland.
A high-level European official said elements of the pact were written with the objective of avoiding a public vote in Ireland.
The official acknowledged that the matter was likely to end up in the hands of the Supreme Court but said the EU authorities still hoped there would be no plebiscite in Ireland.
However, Taoiseach Enda Kenny today denied that Government officials were instructed to minimise the prospect of a contentious vote here in negotiating the treaty.
Mr Kenny said the officials, who had worked intensely with those from other countries since Christmas, were not given a mandate to frustrate anybody's democratic rights. "What they were given was a mandate to maximise Ireland's interests," he added.
Mr Kenny was replying in the Dáil to Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald who referred to today's Irish Times article which quoted a senior official as saying "we drafted the text for the treaty so that he has a chance to avoid a referendum," in reference to Mr Kenny.
"We do not deal with anonymous people or anonymous reports,'' Mr Kenny told the chamber. However, Ms McDonald said the Taoiseach's line was that he had nothing to fear from a referendum.
"What we are looking at here is another example of you having one message for the domestic audience but saying something quite different at a European level," she added.
Ms McDonald accused the Taoiseach of trying to "spoof the people'' by referring the matter to the Attorney General. "But in reality, what you have tried to create is a pre-cooked deal,''she added.
Mr Kenny said the Irish Times reporter who wrote the article was a very good and a responsible person. He added that he had no idea in the world who the official quoted was.
If the report were true, it showed Ireland had enormous influence in Europe. "You cannot have it both ways,'' said Mr Kenny.
Mr Pringle was today joined by fellow Independents Catherine Murphy, Maureen O’Sullivan, Finian McGrath, Mattie McGrath, Stephen Donnelly, Luke “Ming” Flanagan, John Halligan and Mick Wallace in his move to force a referendum.
Also in attendance were ULA members People Before Profit TDs Richard Boyd-Barrett and Joan Collins, as well as Seamus Healy and Socialist Joe Higgins.
Mr Pringle said he had taken legal advice on the matter and would be publishing the petition in the coming weeks. He said he would write to all members of the Dáil and Seanad today seeking their support.
"This mechanism was inserted into the Constitution all those years ago to ensure that even when there's no constitutional requirement for it, there is a means by which the people may be consulted on matters of significant public interest," Mr Pringle said.
"Regardless of the legal requirement to put this treaty to the people, there is a moral requirement to do so as its effects will be felt by the people of Ireland long after the current Dail has been dissolved and replaced."
Independents Shane Ross and Tom Fleming, and Socialist Clare Daly, also support the initiative.