Supporters of Mr Michael McDowell and Mr Tom Parlon are getting ready for a possible leadership contest within the Progressive Democrats despite Ms Mary Harney's insistence that she will remain in charge for the full term of this Government.
Mr McDowell's Dublin South East constituency has proposed a motion for next weekend's PD conference calling for a change in the system for the election of the party leader to a one-member one-vote method. Under existing rules any contest would be decided only by the 12-member PD parliamentary party.
A party spokeswoman said last night that the proposers of this motion were likely to agree next Saturday to defer consideration of the motion until a special party conference in the autumn which will deal with a variety of rule changes. However the matter has been placed firmly on the party's agenda in the belief that the method of election would be crucial to the outcome of any contest.
Party sources say Mr Parlon could win a vote at the parliamentary party, but that a vote among the party membership would favour Mr McDowell. Meanwhile it emerged yesterday that membership in Mr Tom Parlon's Laois-Offaly constituency has grown dramatically since last year's General Election and now stands at over 500 members, representing more than 20 per cent of the 2,500 PD members throughout the State.
This would give Mr Parlon a significant boost in a party-wide contest, although Mr McDowell has strong support in local party organisations in many parts of the State.
These developments come despite Ms Harney's strong insistence that there would be no early leadership vacancy, and that she intended to remain as party leader for the lifetime of the Government. A party spokeswoman re-emphasised this position yesterday, rejecting sporadic speculation that she will not see out the full Government term.
The party chairman, Senator John Minihan, said yesterday he had undertaken last year to review the party constitution, and that a special conference on rule changes was scheduled for the autumn. He said he was not expressing a view on it at this stage, but that next weekend's conference might decide that it was logical to consider this rule change at that point, as it had not yet been debated widely within the party.
The conference in Galway will be on the theme "Driving Change" and will discuss motions on change in the health service, justice and law reform and the economy. The chief executive of Aer Lingus, Mr Willie Walsh, and the chairwoman of the Motor Insurance Advisory Board will address the conference.
Ms Harney will address delegates on Friday night, during which she will concentrate on party matters, and on Saturday night when she will speak about future party policy in Government.