A lot will be riding on how Mr Martin comes out of what is expected to be a gruelling and tough two days for the party. While there appears to be no immediate threat of a heave, how he performs at the private meeting of members could either stall or speed up his demise.

The usual pre-Covid think-in format, which mainly consisted of a formulaic day of listening to guest speakers and party members on various topics before the Fianna Fáil family dinner and drinks, has been abandoned this year. Instead, a return to what one member described as the "Haughey era" of get-togethers when serious and sometimes heated discussions ran late into the night, has been scheduled.

First on the agenda tomorrow afternoon is a discussion on the long-awaited findings of the internal report on the failures of Election 2020, compiled by junior finance minister Seán Fleming. Members will then have an hour for dinner before the parliamentary party (PP) meeting resumes at 8pm.

"It will go well into the night; I think we will still be in there well after midnight," said one party member.

While a vocal few have been turning up the volume of criticism in recent months, members are still entering the two-day event with a nervousness and a sense of not knowing what exactly the fallout might be.

Zoom halted the natural discussions and casual chats that would have taken place at the back of the room to sound out some of the more reserved members.

"The usual suspects, you know what they are going to say, but I think there will be others, especially newer members of the PP, who will speak out.

"A lot of them have kept their cards close to their chest as to how they feel and I think that could change the mood in the room," said one source.

Clearly underplaying the level of frustration bubbling under the surface, Education Minister Norma Foley said the gathering will allow for "the broadest of discussions on a variety of topics, we're a broad church."

But Senator Eugene Murphy, who lost his Dáil seat in the last election, was more direct, admitting that the party needs to have a "hard, open discussion" around the "lack of consultation with the organisation on the ground" especially in the lead-up to the 2020 election.

"I think this will be a tough session, I think there is going to be an awful lot of straight talking and I think it's going to be a very harsh few days. The feeling across the country is that the organisation is at a very low point, I am getting that from grassroots members."

Jim O'Callaghan, who is seen by many as a potential party leader, came out ahead of the meeting to clearly state his views.

"A lot of people don't know anymore what Fianna Fáil stands for," he told RTÉ radio citing the fact that the party secured 27% of the vote in the 2019 local elections but are now languishing at between 13% and 15% in the polls.

"We can't hide from that, we need to recognise that, and we need to ask ourselves what's the reason for that, and what can we do to reverse it," he said.

Indeed there will be nowhere to hide when Mr Martin gathers his troops together over the coming days.