A meeting of the Progressive Democrats scheduled for this evening, amid mounting speculation that TD Noel Grealish will defect to Fianna Fáil, has been postponed.
The meeting of the four members of the party was cancelled due to the death of a friend and neighbour of Mr Grealish in Galway.
No new date has yet been set for the meeting.
A spokesperson for the PDs said that tomorrow night's meeting of the party's National Executive is likely to go ahead, despite the postponement of today's parliamentary party meeting.
Mr Grealish, a Galway West TD, has so far refused to comment on persistent rumours that he is about to join Fianna Fáil.
Should he leave the party, only three PDs would remain in the Oireachtas: Minister for Health Mary Harney, party leader Senator Ciaran Cannon and Senator Fiona O'Malley.
Already there is intense anger among the party's grassroots that Mr Grealish has taken so much time to make a decision.
Yesterday, one of the party's founding members, Limerick County Councillor Eddie Creighton, said that should Mr Grealish leave, then there is a possibility that the PDs would not fight next year's local elections.
