The Labour Party has taken the first step towards forming a possible coalition government with Fine Gael.
Labour's national executive has agreed a motion supporting the move to enter an electoral pact. Nineteen members of the executive voted for the motion while eight voted against it.
The motion was proposed by the party's leader, Pat Rabbitte.
The electoral pact proposal will now be put to a special party conference. If it gets clearance there it will allow Labour to begin negotiations with what it terms genuinely democratic parties.
