A Labour spokesman says there is no prospect of one of the party ministers voting against the Government tonight.

That is despite junior minister Aodhan Ó Ríordáin giving a blistering speech in favour of a Sinn Féin call for travellers to be recognised as an ethnic group.

The government is rejecting the motion tonight - in what the minister believes is a populist move.

He says Ireland cannot celebrate the centenary of 1916 unless it recognises all its ethnic groups, including travellers.