Contacts between Leo Varadkar and Micheal Martin are to continue today in a bid to solve the political impasse between the parties.
Fianna Fail’s motion of no confidence is scheduled for tomorrow night.
Meanwhile a trawl of documents in the Department of Justice is ongoing.
All through the weekend, the Taoiseach and the Fianna Fail leader met and kept in contact, in an effort to stave off a Christmas election.
The meetings were described as productive, but also sensitive, as both sides stick to their respective lines that the Tanaiste must stay, or go.
Yesterday it emerged that the Department of Justice had received a second briefing , this time from the then Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan, regarding her legal strategy to question the motivation of Sgt Maurice McCabe – but in this instance, Frances Fitzgerald was not informed.
A trawl of documents at the Department of Justice will continue this morning, with any further evidence set to be delivered to the Disclosures Tribunal.
Unless a solution can be found in the next 36 hours or so, a Christmas election is inevitable.
A number of suggestions have been made to bridge the impasse.
One is that Frances Fitzgerald would apologise and the Department of Justice would be radically restructured and split into two parts
Another possibility is Frances Fitzgerald would remain in her role, but her actions would be examined by the Charleton Tribunal.
Those options may have been shot down this morning, with Fianna Fáil saying departmental responsibility remains with the minister involved, and it’s inevitable that the Tánaiste will have to go.
Meanwhile, though it remains unclear as to whether an election will actually occur, Clare Fine Gael will press ahead with its selection convention tonight.
A series of such events have been hastily arranged, following on from Saturday’s National Executive meeting.
Junior Minister Pat Breen and Joe Carey are expected to be nominated tonight, though it remains to be seen if more candidates will be added to the ticket.
Senator Martin Conway has previously spoken of his desire to make a run at the Dáil, while Ennis Councillor Mary Howard ran for the party last year.
Tonight’s convention at the Auburn Lodge begins at 8:00.
