Close to 1,000 people who believed they were entitled to vote in the Labour leadership election have been told they will not be given a ballot as they do not fulfil the membership requirements.
The party's complaints committee will hold a special meeting next Saturday to deal with appeals on behalf of some 300 upset activists who have been told they have no vote.
The remainder, according to sources in several constituencies, have accepted that they do not fulfil the requirements.
Most are deeply unhappy about losing the right to choose their leader over a modest €5 annual membership fee.
Several TDs and senators said this week that many long-standing and dedicated party members would not be able to vote because of strict new party rules introduced last year to deal with the one-member-one-vote system. The new rules stipulate that to vote in the leadership election, people must have been members in good standing for two years up to last March.
The electorate is currently estimated at 3,500, although Labour's head office has a mailing list containing 5,600 names.
The difference is made up of 350 who have been told they cannot vote because there is no record of their having paid in time this year; a further 350 who have been registered members for less than the two years required; and 1,400 who are registered as supporters, most of whom are members of branches "lapsed" due to non-payment of dues.
Several Labour deputies said yesterday that many - possibly most - of these people believed they were registered members and therefore entitled to vote.
According to the party's general secretary, Mr Mike Allen, those who can prove that their subscription was paid to a local branch in time, but was not handed over to head office before the deadline, are likely to win their appeals.
According to one deputy the difficulty has arisen through a major change in the "culture" of membership brought about by the new rules.
In the past, the deputy said, the €5 membership fee was seen almost as a symbolic gesture of commitment. "There was a long-standing party culture that paying this money on time was not a big deal," he said. The casual attitude was exemplified by the procedure for sending delegates to the party's national conference.
The problem is that many branches did not respond quickly enough to the changed situation. Party headquarters sent reminders out to all branches before the March deadline.
Branch officers who now find themselves embarrassed maintain that in the midst of the pre-election period, these reminders were not afforded great priority.
Ballot papers will be sent out on October 4th, and counting will take place on October 25th.