The Dail last night voted in favour of the government recognising the State of Palestine based on its 1967 borders - before Israeli occupation.

All parties in the Dail supported the Sinn Fein motion during Private Members time in the Dail.

The government parties backed the motion saying that they were in favour of a two state solution for Israel and Palestine.

Labour's Jed Nash said that passing the motion was an important step in what will be a long process for Palestinian Statehood:

Last month the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charlie Flanagan, said Ireland might recognise a Palestinian state if it helped to advance the peace process in the Middle East.

Currently eight EU states recognise Palestine as a state, with Sweden the most recent to adopt the stance and the first to do so while an EU member state.

There is widespread recognition of Palestine as a state across Asia, Africa and South America, but far less within the EU and North America.