FIANNA FÁIL TDs and Senators will formally discuss for the first time how the party can recover from its disastrous general election performance at a specially convened parliamentary party "think-in" in Dublin on Monday.
The parliamentary party of 19 TDs and 14 Senators will meet in a hotel in Dublin for the day-long meeting to discuss ideas on strategies and on renewing the party.
The party spokesman said last that the meeting, scheduled to last from 9am to 5pm, would consider the road ahead for the party and also assess the work that had already been done.
"Looking back at the performance in the general election is part of it," the spokesman said. "We will also be looking at what has been done since then and what we need to do in the months ahead."
He said party leader Micheál Martin had already visited 20 constituencies as part of his renewal drive and had made a number of major speeches. The party had also received more than 1,000 submissions from members on its renewal website.
"We are going into the summer recess but it's not a time to sit back. We have a lot of work to be done and there are immediate priorities," he said.
One member of the parliamentary party, who spoke on the condition of not being named, said the party should not be lulled into a sense of complacency and go through the motions of an opposition party.
"It's not just about the leader in the Dáil or addressing cumainn. It's about reorganising, building up the membership and finding good young candidates to fight the local elections in 2014."
A Senator, speaking anonymously, said the party needed to take stock and hear the views of the parliamentary party on what needed to be done.
"There are strong views and some very different views. We should have no set agenda and should be open to all suggestions. This is the deepest crisis the party has ever faced."
Several of the party's TD and Senators have privately pointed out that Mr Martin cannot rely on all TDs and Senators, as some of the "old guard" in the Dáil and Seanad are not willing to volunteer for extra duties or commitments.
There is also concern among some of the younger members of the threat now posed to Fianna Fáil by Sinn Féin, which has only five seats fewer than the party in the Dáil.
None of the TDs or Senators who spoke to The Irish Times showed any degree of confidence that the party could retain the seat in Dublin West, made vacant by the recent death of deputy leader Brian Lenihan. There are also divided views on whether the party should nominate a candidate for this autumn's presidential election.
Kerry Senator Ned O'Sullivan has said that not fielding a candidate would leave the party in a worse position than it was after the general election.
Several TDs yesterday expressed the view that it would be folly for Fianna Fáil to run a candidate, arguing that the party should devote its energies to reorganisation and preparing for the 2014 local elections.
