The prospect of speeding up the process of electing a new Fine Gael leader is under consideration by senior party figures, although there is division on the issue between the two leading candidates.
Supporters of Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar are in favour of such an approach, although those in Minister for Housing Simon Coveney's camp say they have not even discussed it.
It is widely believed that Mr Varadkar would prefer a short campaign and Mr Coveney a longer contest.
Both men are the frontrunners to succeed Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who this week said he would “conclusively” deal with his leadership when he returned from the US after his St Patrick’s Day trip.
He is expected to trigger a leadership contest by late March.
Party rules
Fine Gael rules say final votes must be cast within 20 days of a vacancy arising, and nominations must close within a week of Mr Kenny standing down as party leader.
There is some confusion, however, over how to apply the rules in this instance.
“The rules were never really envisaged to apply when we are in government, or in a minority government like we are now,” said one source.
“There is no reason we couldn’t do it in less than 20 days. It depends on how available Ministers are and if the Dáil is sitting.”
The source added that the contest could be shortened by four days or so.
Those close to Mr Varadkar say the week-long window for nominations could be substantially reduced. “Do you shorten the nomination period?” asked one.
The rationale for doing so would be that there will probably be only two candidates and the lead-in to the contest will be a month.
“It is unnecessary, particularly when people will have a long time to consider it.”
Party rules state that regional hustings must take place between day 10 and day 18 of the campaign.
One source said there would be “no less than six” debates and shortening the overall time frame would bring these forward.
“If it was 17 days in total, you start day six on the hustings,” said a Varadkar camp source. However, those close to Mr Coveney say they have not even considered the mechanics of a contest.
“How do we know there’ll just be two candidates? We just don’t know yet. There is no vacancy, so we will have to wait until there is a vacancy before we can talk in detail about the contest.”
Mr Varadkar yesterday said he did not want to make an issue of his personal life during the contest, and hoped others would not do so either.
He was responding to recent media coverage of his personal life and his partner. In 2015, Mr Varadkar announced that he was gay.
He also said if he became party leader and taoiseach, he would honour the confidence and supply agreement with Fianna Fáil and would not call an election.
