Sinn FEin is likely to "cherrypick" the Stormont agreement, endorsing elements it likes while rejecting other parts, the party president, Mr Gerry Adams, has indicated.
This could result in the party rejecting the proposed changes in Articles 2 and 3 in the Republic's referendum on May 22nd, he said yesterday. At the same time the party could take a more pragmatic approach to the referendum in the North on the same day.
Speaking yesterday on RTE Radio One's This Week programme, Mr Adams said his party "may take up positions . . . saying we have to take the best of this, the elements of this which are for advancement, and reject the other bits.
"Why should anyone be asked to embrace something which doesn't improve the quality of life for them?" he asked, adding:
"So we will select the bits that we think weaken British constitutionality . . . and we will reject the bits which we think diminish the rights of citizens or disimprove the Irish national position."
Sinn Fein's position "conceivably could be that there would be a qualified Yes in terms of the 26 counties but which could mean people here in the 26 counties voting against the changes in Articles 2 and 3".
However, in the North it would be found that republicans would take a more pragmatic view, as they were not being asked to vote on changes to their constitutional status, he said.
Sinn Fein would state its position clearly before the referendums, but would first set out its analysis, the context in which it viewed the deal and whether the deal had "the capacity to move the entire struggle forward and the capacity to build a durable and lasting peace".
A final decision would not be taken in a hurry, he said, as Sinn Fein was the only party which was organised nationally.
If Sinn Fein was organised only in Northern Ireland or only in the Republic then the decision would be relatively straightforward, he said.
He rejected a suggestion that the Sinn Fein leadership had not clearly stated its position on the deal to its Ard Fheis ardfheis delegates on Saturday. The leadership had stated that the agreement wasn't the basis for a settlement but was the basis for advancement and should be looked at as a transitional arrangement.
He said the leadership could have put a motion to the ardfheis Ard Fheis committing the party to a position on the agreement, and "the membership would have voted for that and would have democratically mandated our leadership".
But Sinn Fein would not be bounced into an early decision on such an important watershed agreement.
"Whatever else the document does it does bring to an end one phase of struggle which has been on for 30 years. The phase it brings to an end is that negotiating phase. We've always made it clear that a united Ireland wasn't going to come out of that particular phase because we were the only party arguing for that, and I also made it clear that the document could open up a new very defined phase of struggle."
The party would have to review its position on whether to take its seats in a new Northern Ireland Assembly, he said, while repeating that it did not want to accept the legitimacy of the Northern state or British involvement in it.
Mr Adams said he was sure he would see Irish unity and independence in his lifetime.
Suzanne Breen adds: Members of the dissident republican group, the 32 County Sovereignty Committee, who were barred from the Sinn Fein ardfheis, say they will organise public meetings soon in Belfast, Tyrone and other areas.
The committee is to hold a press conference in Dublin tomorrow to give its verdict on the Stormont peace deal.
Three members of the committee, including Mr Francie Mackey, a Sinn Fein councillor in Omagh, Co Tyrone, were refused entry to the ardfheis on Saturday.
They had been registered as delegates before they were expelled from the party for their opposition to the leadership's strategy. They had submitted motions to the ardfheis critical of the peace process.
Sinn Fein has expelled 10 members who were active on the committee, saying dual membership was incompatible. The committee was formed six months ago after splits in republican ranks over the peace process.
Mr Mackey and two delegates from a cumann in Balbriggan, Co Dublin, Mr Gerry McNamara and Mr Eamon Flanagan, were refused entry to the ardfheis by the party's national organiser, Ms Joan O'Connor. They handed in a letter of protest.
He said the trio could easily have brought "60 or 70 supporters" with them to the doors of the RDS but had deliberately decided not to be confrontational. "Whatever our criticisms of the leadership, we view the ordinary delegates in there as our comrades, not our enemies," he said.