The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, faces possible opposition in trying to select a running mate for the general election in his Dublin Central constituency.
A date has finally been set for the selection convention, which is to be held next Saturday night.
Mr Ahern has said that he wanted all constituency conventions to be held as early as possible but his own will be the 42nd and final for the Fianna Fáil party.
The Fianna Fáil general secretary, Mr Martin Mackin, told The Irish Times yesterday that no date had yet been set for the convention but constituency sources said it is to be held on Saturday night.
It is understood that a number of people are backing Cllr Dermot Fitzpatrick, a general practitioner who lives on the Navan Road. They believe Dr Fitzpatrick, who lost his seat in the 1992 general election, would be well placed to counter the threat from Sinn Féin candidate Cllr Nicky Kehoe.
However, it is believed that Mr Ahern may favour either Cllr Royston Brady, a councillor in the north inner city, or his brother Mr Cyprian Brady, who is the Taoiseach's right-hand man in his constituency office in Drumcondra.
"A few people are not at all happy," said one constituency source. "We really need the second seat and a number of people think Dermot Fitzpatrick is the one to get it and he would be able to counter the threat from Nicky Kehoe. I believe he is going to be proposed at the meeting."
The source believes that Mr Cyprian Brady is now a favourite with Mr Ahern. "Cyprian could be a popular choice among many of the members. Royston was appointed to the EU Committee of the Regions recently which is a nice appointment, and I think that meant that he is not going to get the nomination."
Cllr Brady was nominated by Fianna Fáil recently to the Committee of the Regions, a consultative body made up of elected officials from Local Government throughout the EU.
A source close to Mr Ahern said it had not yet been decided who would be the best running mate. "We've been agonising on it but eventually it is the delegates who will make the decision."
Asked why there had been a delay in announcing the date for the selection convention, Mr Mackin said: "There are 42 conventions. This is one of the latter ones. We expect a date to be fixed in the near future."