Labour leader Pat Rabbitte has won a crucial vote at his party's national executive which could pave the way for a pre-election pact with Fine Gael.
The 28-member executive voted - by a margin of two to one - in favour of putting a proposal to next month's national conference in Tralee to endorse a pre-election pact.
Proposing the motion, Mr Rabbitte argued that a pre-election pact will give voters the prospect of an alternative government.
The motion proposed such a deal with other "democratic parties of opposition" - meaning Fine Gael and the Green Party - if Fine Gael agrees to such a pact.
There is a significant minority within Labour that is unhappy with Mr Rabbitte's preferred electoral strategy, the most prominent of these being former deputy leader Brendan Howlin.
The Labour Party conference from May 27th to 29th would decide whether to endorse this electoral strategy.
The motion proposing a pre-election deal now has the added weight of coming from the party's national executive, but is certain to face a counter-motion from those who believe Labour should fight the next election without any pre-election pact.