The Taoiseach and the Tanaiste have insisted there will be no referendum on Partnership for Peace, despite the finding of the Irish Times/MRBI opinion poll that 71 per cent of voters want one.
A Government spokesman said yesterday Mr Ahern had not changed his view and agreed with Ms Harney's statement yesterday that no referendum was needed.
The NATO-led PfP programme involves joint training and military exercises between states. These include almost all of Europe's NATO, former Warsaw Pact, neutral and non-aligned states.
The Government intends to put a document outlining the proposed nature and scope of Irish involvement in PfP to the Dail this autumn. Once approved, this would be submitted to NATO and the Government would sign PfP's "framework document", thus beginning Irish participation.
Fine Gael yesterday supported the Government in doing this without a referendum, but Labour said there was now a moral obligation to allow voters decide.
Ms Harney said on RTE radio: "We can't have a referendum on every single thing the Government does. We elect people to govern us. Government and the Oireachtas make decisions in relation to this matter."
However, Labour's foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, said the Government should establish the wishes of the electorate by holding a plebiscite. A spokesman said that even if a referendum to change the Constitution was considered unnecessary, it was open to the Government to hold a plebiscite.
Mr De Rossa acknowledged that the opinion poll also showed that 62 per cent of those polled believed Ireland should participate in PfP. "That might or might not change during the course of a debate, but all democrats would accept the collective wishes of the Irish people as expressed through a referendum," he said.
He criticised Mr Ahern once again for calling for a referendum when in opposition and opposing one when in Government.
The Socialist Party deputy and European election candidate, Mr Joe Higgins, called on the Government to include arguments against PfP in its forthcoming information booklet. "It is a fraud to call PfP a partnership for peace. Set up by NATO, PfP is dominated by those countries which make a fortune selling arms around the world," he said.
However, Fine Gael's foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Gay Mitchell, yesterday welcomed the support for PfP in the poll. He opposed a referendum, saying: "In a democracy some basic laws are the preserve of the people. But law-making, governing and arranging the State's affairs are mandated to a freely elected parliament and government. In the area of PfP it is best left there."
However, Mr Joe Murray, of the justice and peace organisation AfrI, said he was "amazed and astounded" at the political opposition to a referendum. Referring to Ms Harney's statement that "we elect people to govern us", he said: "People expect parties in Government to abide by their pre-election promises. If they fail to do that they have failed the electorate and the people must be allowed have their say."