Fine Gael Junior Finance Minister Michael D’Arcy said Sinn Féin should back “agreed Remain candidates” who would vote for soft-Brexit.
Sinn Féin is an Irish nationalist party which contests United Kingdom general elections doesn’t send any MPs to the Houses of Parliament in Westminster out of protest.
Mr D’Arcy said: “Those successful agreed Remain candidates would do their duty, take their seats in Westminster and ultimately vote down a hard Brexit should such a proposal come before the House of Commons.
“This is a tangible way for Sinn Féin to make a real contribution to Ireland’s Brexit challenge, without compromising on abstentionism.
“In this way, they could do more for politics than ever before.”
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He said Sinn Féin did not “put their shoulder to the wheel” during the 2016 EU referendum and it was now time for leader Mary Lou McDonald to put “country before party”.
Sinn Féin don’t send MPs to Westminster despite having won seven seats in the 2017 General Election.
They have the potential to wield a large amount of power when it comes to crunch votes in Parliament.
This is compared with the 10 DUP MPs in Westminster who are propping up Theresa May’s Government after her snap election in 2017 lost The Conservatives an overall majority.
Most of Northern Ireland voted to Remain in the 2016 referendum.
Since the vote to leave, the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland has been a main focus of contention as the Government tries to find a solution to allow free access of goods between the UK and the EU.
This is facilitated currently due to access of the single market and access to the customs union.
If the UK crashes out of the EU, there is the potential of delays in goods and services in between the two Irelands.
And because of the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland has the opportunity, should it choose to do so, to hold a referendum on unifying with the Republic of Ireland.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said republicanism was being “renewed and revitalised” and insisted “the need for a referendum to end partition is writ large”.
She told supporters: “The time for a unity referendum is drawing near. It is not a question of if a unity referendum will happen but a question of when.
“As Britain turns away from Europe, the appeal of being part of a new and outward-looking Ireland will, I believe, prove ever more attractive to some within the unionist community.”