Thge Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, has called for an overwhelming Yes vote for the proposal to remove all references to the death penalty from the Constitution.
The prohibition would then "be written in stone" unless the Irish people voted to reintroduce it, he said.
In a press conference to launch the Government's campaign in support of the 21st amendment to the Constitution, Mr O'Donoghue pointed out that the death penalty had not been carried out for almost 50 years, and had been removed from the statute book in 1990.
He said: "I need not spell out the terrible realities of the death penalty or indeed the terrible torment endured - often for many years - by those awaiting execution.
"To say that is not in any way to do a disservice to the victims of what can be most evil offences, which are understandably regarded by many as crying out for retribution. It is simply to acknowledge that, at the end of the day, the punishment of the perpetrator should fall short of mirroring the standards applied by that perpetrator in committing the offence."
The Government was putting forward the proposal to prohibit the death penalty in any circumstances, including those of war and national emergency.
"We see no evidence that it acts as a deterrent to criminal activity in any of the countries where it is still carried out," the Minister said.
He added that a strong argument against the death penalty was that when a miscarriage of justice occurred there was no opportunity to right the wrong where an execution had been carried out.
In relation to the protection of certain public servants in carrying out their duties, such as members of the Garda Siochana, he pointed out that the 1990 Criminal Justice Act provided for a minimum sentence of 40 years for capital murder. An attempt to kill such a public servant carried a minimum sentence of 20 years.
As well as removing all references to the death penalty from the Constitution, the Government was proposing a new clause which prohibited the Oireachtas from enacting any law providing for it, and a further amendment preventing the emergency provisions of the Constitution being used to override this new clause.
These proposals were in line with recommendations from the Constitution Review Group and the All-Party Committee on the Constitution, the Minister said.
These guarantees were in line with our international commitments, according to Mr O'Donoghue. He said that Sweden had recently proposed an additional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights to abolish the death penalty even in time of war, and the Government had supported this proposal.
"I would also expect that our current position as a member of the United Nations Security Council will heighten international awareness of the measures being taken by Ireland to ban the death penalty constitutionally, thus adding to our legal and moral standing on this issue throughout the civilised world."
ireland.com - The Irish Times
The Irish Times website has launched a special site which will have extensive online coverage of the run-up, results and aftermath of the referendums taking place on both the International Criminal Court and the abolition of the death penalty. It can be accessed from www.ireland.com