The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) has welcomed a possible breakthrough in negotiations to reinstate next season's Heineken Cup with "cautious optimism".

A European Rugby Cup meeting will be held tomorrow when it is expected to be announced that Europe's flagship club competition will go ahead in its current format.

The English and French clubs announced last month that they would boycott the competition because of a dispute over voting and shareholding rights.

Any Anglo-French withdrawal would have serious ramifications for the Celtic nations who rely heavily on the revenue generated by the Heineken Cup.

But significant progress has been made in behind-the-scenes negotiations and European competition is expected to resume next season.

IRFU chief executive Philip Browne said: "There has been a huge amount of work behind the scenes over the last number of weeks by all parties to find a solution.

"We can now look forward with cautious optimism that an agreement may be signed to secure the long term future of the competition.

"This is important news for the game on a global level but most importantly for rugby in Ireland.

"The importance of the competition to the professional game and in turn its influence on all over levels of the sport cannot be underestimated.

"The work of the International Rugby Board and its chairman, Dr Syd Millar, cannot be overlooked in bringing all the parties to this point.

"Hopefully we will have an agreement in place as soon as possible."