The Government has said it has not sought to distance itself from the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, following its decision to seek legal clarification of an opt-out granted to the British government during last week's European Union summit.
Facing pressure from the Opposition and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions yesterday, the Government insisted that it had not sought an opt-out: "It was purely precautionary, until we see what the British protocol means," said a spokesman.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern repeatedly insisted at the end of last week's talks, which finished at 5am on Saturday, that he was strongly in favour of the charter, which was agreed as part of the negotiations on the now-aborted European constitution.
The charter makes the European Union itself subject to the laws of the European Court of Human Rights and applies an equal responsibility on member states in their application of European laws.
The position would be clarified quickly, the Government said, during inter-governmental talks due to begin in July on the wording of a new treaty to reform the workings of the EU so that it may cope with the pressure of a larger number of member states.
The Taoiseach had not mentioned the Irish decision to adopt a "wait-and-see" approach on the impact of the British opt-out at a Saturday morning press conference with Irish journalists because he "did not think that it was sufficiently important to do so", the Government said.
"It [the British concession] was something that happened in the early hours of the morning and it was simply deemed prudent to wait and get legal advice because of the similarities of our legal systems," the spokesman said.
Before the Government's clarification was issued, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, David Begg, said congress was extremely concerned that the Government has been given the right to opt out of the charter.
The trade union movement was unlikely to support any referendum on the planned new EU treaty if the charter of rights was excluded, said Mr Begg, who said he had written to the Taoiseach yesterday on the issue.
Labour Party TD Joe Costello said his party "continues to support the Charter of Fundamental Rights and believes that it should be fully incorporated in the text of the new treaty".