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Ireland, Spain and a number of other EU member states are considering 21 May as the date on which they will jointly recognise the State of Palestine, RTÉ News understands.
Two sources have said that 21 May is being looked at.
A third source said contacts between Dublin and Madrid, as well as between Slovenia and Malta, have been intensifying with a view to the countries jointly recognising Palestinian statehood.
In a statement jointly signed on 22 March, former taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his Spanish, Maltese and Slovenian counterparts said they had discussed their “readiness to recognise Palestine and said that we would do so when it can make a positive contribution and the circumstances are right”.
A spokesperson for Tánaiste Micheál Martin told RTÉ News this evening: “Discussions with a number of like-minded European partners are ongoing on the recognition of the State of Palestine.”
They went on: “Ireland’s focus will continue to be on ensuring a decision on recognition has a positive impact on the prospects for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, based on a two-state solution, and supports progress towards comprehensive regional peace, based on the principles of the Arab Peace Plan.”
Taoiseach Simon Harris spoke to his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez on Monday, which a government spokesperson called “a good and thorough call” regarding the “grave situation in the Middle East”.
The spokesperson said: “On recognition [of Palestine], our work continues together on recognising the State of Palestine. They reaffirmed the wish for both Spain and Ireland to recognise Palestine, agreeing that formal recognition is an important part of acknowledging that a two-state solution is the only way to bring about peace and stability in the region, with a State of Palestine and the State of Israel living side-by-side in peace and security.”
Currently, eight EU member states recognise the State of Palestine, the most recent being Sweden in 2014.
Ireland has been in ongoing discussions with “like-minded” states for a number of months, on the basis that recognition could happen in conjunction with the Arab Peace Plan on a long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
During a news conference between the Tánaiste and his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, in Amman last month, Mr Safadi said that recognition of Palestinian statehood upfront would avoid the two-state solution becoming an open-ended and ultimately elusive goal.
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