Independent Mayo TD Beverley Flynn is expected to be back in Fianna Fáil by October, according to party sources.
Next Friday week is expected to mark the first stage of Ms Flynn's rehabilitation with her old party, when she pays a total bill of €1.225 million to RTÉ, arising from her unsuccessful libel action against the broadcaster.
Following the payment, bankruptcy proceedings initiated by RTÉ will be struck out at a court hearing on October 8th, paving the way for her return to the party.
Fianna Fáil general secretary Seán Dorgan and other senior party figures are to have talks with the local organisation next month. Inevitably, the move will be divisive, with some elements of the organisation welcoming back a member of the Flynn dynasty and others resenting her return.
Her readmission will also add an edge to what is already shaping up to be a keenly-fought battle for nominations for the 2009 local elections and general election. Already, the Fianna Fáil organisation in Claremorris is looking to the local elections to groom a potential TD for the area.
Newport-based county councillor, former senator and general election candidate Frank Chambers is casting a jaundiced eye on Ms Flynn's expected return to the fold.
He told The Irish Timesyesterday: "Until certain issues are resolved, it will be hard to get a general acceptance of Beverley Flynn within the Fianna Fáil organisation in Mayo."
However, other local activists see it differently, accepting it as a a move by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and party headquarters to secure an extra Dáil seat and improve Fianna Fáil's fortunes in Ms Flynn's native Castlebar, where her father, former minister and EU commissioner Pádraig Flynn, once reigned supreme.
That mantle has been passed on to Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who topped the poll in the general election.
The other Fine Gael seats are held by Michael Ring and John O'Mahony, while the only Fianna Fáil seat is held by Ballina-based Dara Calleary, a promising long-term bet for ministerial office.
Ms Flynn was in and out of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party twice since February 1999 when she voted against a motion of censure against her father, asking him to clarify his position on allegations he had received financial contributions.
She was readmitted in November of that year, but in April 2001 she was expelled following her failed libel case against RTÉ. Ms Flynn, a former financial adviser with National Irish Bank, had alleged she was libelled in RTÉ broadcasts which reported that, as an employee of National Irish Bank, she had encouraged or assisted a number of persons in tax evasion.
While Ms Flynn will be able to point to the geographical importance of her Castlebar base, there will be others throughout the sprawling constituency with Dáil ambitions.
Knock-based John Carty, who lost his Dáil seat, having secured 5,889 first preferences, was thrown a political lifeline when he won a Seanad seat. Mr Chambers, who polled 4,345 first preferences in the general election, has to make up his mind about future Dáil ambitions, but he intends to contest the 2009 local elections.
There will be considerable interest in the hunt by the party in Claremorris for a future TD.
There is much talk locally about Gerard McHale, from Domineen, a Dublin-based accountant in his early 20s, who is a member of the Fianna Fáil national executive.
Ms Flynn, who polled 6,779 first preferences, seems set to consolidate her base when back in the party. However, party sources say the Taoiseach's remark that she could be a minister of state in the lifetime of the current Dáil is seen as wide of the mark.
"Bertie tells everybody that they are potential ministers," said a source. "There are backbenchers, who consider themselves to have been good and faithful servants, lining up for any vacancy that might occur."
