The chariy Goal has called on the Government to end trading links with China in protest at the country's use of its UN veto to block the deployment of peacekeepers in Sudan.
Goal chief executive John O'Shea said the Government should leave the Chinese in no doubt about this country's abhorrence of China's attitude and stance at this time of crisis for two million vulnerable people.
"It is all very well for the Irish Government to condemn this and that, but action is now required if the lives of millions are to be saved," Mr O'Shea said.
"China must be persuaded to vote in favour of allowing the UN peacekeepers to protect the hapless people of Darfur. The Irish Government has the economic card, it must now be prepared to play it," he added.
Yesterday, the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged China to use its influence to persuade Sudan to allow a UN force to deploy. She made her appeal to Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing in New York.
China, which supports the UN force and exports half of Sudan's oil, has said it has spoken to Khartoum leaders. But diplomats said unless Beijing and neighbouring Arab countries use their leverage, Sudan's President Omar Hassan Bashir would not listen to the West.
Mr Bashir has likened a UN presence to an invasion force bent on regime change in Khartoum, which diplomats said was based on an apprehension his regime would be toppled.
Years of fighting in Sudan's west have forced more than two million people to flee their homes for overcrowded refugee camps. Non-Arab tribes took up arms against the government in February 2003 to protest alleged neglect and deprivation.
In turn Sudan, unleashed and armed Arab militia who murdered and raped civilians. In recent months, factions of rebel groups and bandits have done the same.
Additional reporting - Reuters