Sinn Féin¿s five TDs walked out of the Dáil this afternoon in protest at not being allocated more time to debate their opposition to the Nice Treaty.
Sinn Féin's Louth representative, Mr Arthur Morgan TD, was asked to leave the Dáil during the debate after he protested that he and his colleague Mr Seán Crowe had not been given time to speak.
All five Sinn Féin TDs then walked out in protest at what they described as the "totally undemocratic" nature of the debate.
Sinn Féin criticised the Government's conduct of the four-day recall of the Dáil for the debate on the Treaty of Nice as "a mockery of democracy".
Party whip and spokesman on Europe, Mr Aengus Ó Snodaigh, said those representing 54% of the people who voted No in the first Nice referendum received only 8% of the speaking time.