One of the Fianna Fail deputies originally considered to be reluctant to accept changes to Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution has called for a strong Yes vote in the forthcoming referendum to amend the Articles.
Mr Conor Lenihan TD said yesterday that reservations that some deputies had in relation to Articles 2 and 3 had been more than met in the deal. Fianna Fail should campaign hard in favour of the changes, he said.
"The new wording, far from redefining what constitutes the Irish nation, only further develops it in a more conceptual framework," he said. "In this respect the new wording resembles a similar wording contained in the West German constitution or Basic Law prior to the collapse of the Berlin Wall."