When the Democratic Left national executive committee met on April 4th last, Mr Pat Rabbitte TD gave frank expression to the sense of disappointment at the by-election performances three weeks earlier.
In Limerick East the party had hoped it could take the seat vacated by the death of Jim Kemmy. Its candidate, Mr John Ryan, is a hard-working councillor who has run in the constituency before. In the end, however, while receiving a creditable 9 per cent of the vote, he was far short of making a serious challenge for the seat.
In Dublin North, the party candidate, Mr Joe Holohan, barely registered at 0.68 per cent of the vote. While it was Mr Holohan's first outing in a constituency the party has not contested for some time (Mr Holohan was, however, a Labour local election candidate in Malahide in the 1980s) such a tiny vote in a largely urban area with a large left and Green Party vote was a very poor performance for a left-wing party.
The ensuing debate at the 41/2hour meeting was "lively and heated rather than bitter and rancorous", according to one source. From discussion of the by-election results and a recently completed report of a task force on reform of the party three main options for the future became clear:
Remaining as they are, with a small number of high-profile deputies, the prospect of modest growth in Dail representation, and a reasonably high-profile political presence;
Broadening their appeal through forging links with smaller left-wing groups, the Greens etc;
Deciding the party has no long-term future as distinct from the larger Labour Party, and so moving towards a merger with it.
The executive, which has been over this ground before, then passed a motion resolving to consult the entire party membership as a matter of urgency through holding constituency meetings before the end of this month.
A rather bland letter has been sent to party members by the general secretary, Mr John Gallagher, announcing these meetings.
This letter suggests the meetings are to discuss developments in Irish political life and the political position of Democratic Left. Discussion papers on these matters are to be prepared before a follow up series of regional meetings in May.
Some constituency organisations have written to members using more robust language, saying these are crucial meetings to determine whether the party has a future.
Mr Rabbitte is among those in the party seen as most open to contemplating an ultimate merger with Labour, but sources say he told the national executive committee he wanted to emphasise he had not made such a proposal. Instead, he said, he wanted to look at the prospect of a "new formation" on the left.
A number of others, including some prominent figures in the party, are also understood to be keen to have the idea of a merger explored as an option. However, a very large section of the party is attached to the idea of a continued distinct Democratic Left presence on the political stage.
Mr Rabbitte indicated to The Irish Times yesterday he was not advocating a course of action for the party at this stage, and no assumptions could be made until the party review now under way was completed.
"The world is changing, a new millennium is around the corner, a lot of ice is breaking on the Irish political scene and any serious review of the future of the left in Ireland must take place in that context", he said.
Democratic Left has been assessing its role and future in various forums since last year's general election in which the return of just four deputies was a disappointment for the party. The task force reported last November, and concerned itself mainly with organisational details and the party structure. This was circulated to all constituencies for comment.
Meanwhile, the party held four Sunday morning seminars in Dublin at the beginning of the year on policy themes, and attracted, it is said, 60 to 80 members to each. One took place in Bewleys cafe and another - to the amusement of members - in a relatively new Dublin Cafe called Mao.
And when considering their future, it is policy rather than personality which fires most party members, and it is this which determines their attitude to closer co-operation with Labour.
While Proinsias De Rossa and Labour deputy Ms Roisin Shortall might lie awake at night at the thought of sharing a party ticket in their now three-seat Dublin North West constituency, such concerns would not be to fore in the minds of some activists.
A large section of Democratic Left members still sees itself as more genuinely left wing than Labour, and is very proud of the party's separate identity and ethos. According to one senior activist: "Some of the stuff coming out of Labour's one-day conference would make us ill."
This was a reference to the impression given that Labour was moving to jettison its traditional commitment to the state sector and embrace wholesale privatisation at its conference late last month. Labour sources say, however, that the sense of queasiness at the prospect is shared by many in that party as well.
Most Labour Party figures - except those whose seats or positions would be threatened - would welcome a merger with DL. However the DL leader, Mr De Rossa has been the most vocal opponent, and has made his position clear a number of times recently.
Shortly after Ruairi Quinn was elected Labour leader, he and Mr De Rossa agreed to set up a joint study group to seek to identify common ground between the parties on policy issues. That group finally has its first meeting on Friday.
At Mr De Rossa's insistence, the joint statement issued when the idea was agreed emphasised the "distinctive roles" the two parties had to play, lest the move was seen as the start of a process leading towards merger. Three weeks earlier, Mr De Rossa had ruled out the prospect of a merger after it was floated by Mr Dick Spring on the day he quit as party leader.
However, having emerged from very different traditions, Labour and Democratic Left appear to be converging on the same political ground. It is difficult to identify any strong philosophical difference between the parties. It is this breakdown of the policy divisions between them, coupled with the great improvement in personal relations that took place in many instances during their period in government together which is turning the merger idea into a real option for discussion.