The leader of Fianna Fáil has criticised Sinn Féin's stance on Europe and accused Fine Gael of politicising Brexit.
Speaking at the Institute of International and European Affairs in Dublin Micheál Martin said Sinn Féin was "Ireland's most consistent and obsessively anti-EU party".
He said that it had what he called a "destructive agenda" and put its own interests ahead of the public interest.
He said that Sinn Féin in government "would mark a decisive move away from a constructive, active and effective policy of being positive to the EU".
Mr Martin said, "100 times out of 100 it attacks the EU when the opportunity arises and it is allied with hardline anti-EU parties".
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has rejected this claim.
He claimed his party had ensured there was a stable Government in Dublin during the Brexit process.
"We had a functioning Government and parliament during the threat of a crash-out Brexit solely because Fianna Fáil acted".
He warned that "Brexit is only at half time in terms of negotiations" and he said that the issue has hardly begun "in terms of domestic preparations".
He also criticised the Government's Brexit preparations and said "Ireland was absolutely not Brexit ready last year and needs to rapidly increase activity if we are to be ready by the time the Withdrawal Agreement expires later this year."
He said the various schemes put in place by the Government to help with Brexit had "not worked" and have had "no significant impact so far".
Mr Martin also accused Fine Gael of politicising Brexit.
He said the EU commissioner Phil Hogan should "stay out of Irish politics for the next week".
He said remarks by the commissioner yesterday amounted to a "partisan intervention" into Irish politics.
Mr Martin said Fine Gael's public relations strategy around the election is "desperate stuff" and he said a planned photo call at Dublin Port by the party tomorrow morning at 5am is "pathetic" and what he called the "last great photo op"
He said "new narratives" are being created by Fine Gael that issues regarding Brexit are "desperate altogether", he said the narrative is designed to frighten people into voting in a certain direction and he concluded, "I don’t think it is going to work".
Mr Martin also addressed Irish unity and said a referendum on the issue could only happen when the time is right.
He said that could not happen until "sectarian tensions have been reduced" and said the island needed to practice reconciliation, rather than talk about it, before there could be a referendum on unity.
He also addressed Fianna Fáil's commitment to Europe and said it would make "Ireland a leading member of the effort to renew Europe"
Micheál Martin said he does not agree with the views of Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher when he said a reduction in the Television Licence Fee should be considered.
Mr Kelleher made the remarks in a Twitter posting last night.
The Fianna Fáil leader said the remarks made by Mr Kelleher were in no way directed at RTÉ's Europe Editor Tony Connelly and he said the MEP has apologised to Mr Connelly.
He said RTÉ had "performed surely" in explaining Brexit to the Irish people, and he said Tony Connelly in particular has earned the acclimation of the Irish public for his "consistent hard work on an ongoing basis presenting Brexit in a very simple manner".
He said RTÉ and Mr Connelly "deserve great credit for the comprehensive nature of the Brexit Coverage."
Mr Martin said "of course the licence fee should not be cut".
