The Government is expected to approve Ireland's membership of Partnership for Peace early next month. A motion outlining the terms and conditions of membership will be submitted to the Dail in October, which will see the Republic establishing for the first time diplomatic relations with the NATO military alliance.
Discussions between NATO and officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs are understood to be near completion. Before seeking Dail approval for membership the Government is likely to publish a "presentation document" setting out the relations between Ireland and the NATO-led PfP.
The Government has already decided against a referendum on PfP. It considers membership as fully in accordance with the State's policy of "military neutrality". It is understood advice from the recently appointed AG, Mr Michael McDowell, that there was no need for a referendum concurs with that received earlier this year from his predecessor, Mr David Byrne.
Forty-three countries are currently involved in PfP which was established in 1994 to provide a framework for regional security co-operation in Europe. Of these 24 are not members of NATO.
The PfP structure allows member-states to sign up for different levels of involvement. The Government's document is likely to commit Ireland to involvement in humanitarian activities. A departmental source said: "We'll go heavily into crisis management and peacekeeping." The State would be required to fund the costs of Irish participation including a proportion of the cost of exercises in which Defence Forces personnel participate.
As part of Irish membership of PfP, the Ambassador to Belgium, Mr Eamonn Ryan, would be accredited to NATO which has its headquarters in Brussels.