Democratic Left's national executive has called a series of party meetings throughout the State to discuss options for the party's future, including the possibility of a merger with Labour.
The party leader, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, is a strong opponent of a merger, and a majority of the party rank-and-file is believed to support his view at this stage.
However, the idea surfaced at a heated national executive meeting on April 4th. Party sources say Mr Pat Rabbitte TD was among those who said there were questions about the party's long-term future in its present form.
He told The Irish Times yesterday that any review of the party and of the Irish left must by definition look beyond the confines of Democratic Left and towards the next millennium. "Nothing can be discounted, nor can any assumptions be made before the party review is completed," he said.
The April 4th debate arose from a review of the report of a task force on the party's future and a post-mortem on the party's disappointing performance in the Dublin North and Limerick East by-elections last month.
After debate on the party's future direction, the executive decided to hold constituency and regional meetings of members throughout the State to take place by the end of this month.
These will be followed by a series of regional meetings in May to discuss two documents. One, being prepared by Mr Eamon Gilmore TD, concerns the politics of Democratic Left. The second is an assessment of likely political and economic developments in Ireland in the coming years.
Meanwhile, officials of Labour and Democratic Left are to meet on Friday for the first in a series of meetings designed to find common ground between them on policy matters. This ad hoc group was established after Mr Ruairi Quinn's election as Labour leader, and before the recent escalation of the debate within Democratic Left.