The Government has not changed its position on the State's proposed membership of Partnership for Peace, which is that it will be put to the Dail in the autumn, a spokesman has said.
He was responding to a claim by the peace and justice organisation, AFrI, that a Government adviser had indicated that the proposal could be voted on before the Dail's summer recess.
The claim followed a meeting between the Taoiseach and an AFrI delegation at Government Buildings yesterday, in which the group appealed for a referendum on the issue. According to AFrI, Mr Ahern told them a referendum was "unlikely".