Internal party documents seen by the Sunday Tribune indicate that the Green Party has given up on its commitment to have a mayoral election in Dublin this autumn. The election, if it happens at all, is now expected in late March next year and will be held in conjunction with three by-elections in Waterford, Donegal South-West and Dublin South.

Party leader John Gormley and other senior figures such as Dan Boyle have, on a number of occasions, stated their ambition to have the mayoral election this year.

According to the internal Green Party memo, the draft legislation necessary to create the new position of Dublin mayor has been prepared and will be published after the Oireachtas summer recess.

It was hoped it would be published before the summer but the legislation has proved to be far more complex than originally envisaged. It is now likely to be published in conjunction with a white paper on local government reform.

It is understood the Green Party plans to use the white paper to "sell the mayoralty" and it "might be a good strategy to synchronise publication of both bills". One of the main criticisms of the new office surrounds the notion that it will create another layer of bureaucracy and the Greens plan to sell the message that this is not the case.

The memo states: "It looks like the legislation will be passed in time for a possible election in the spring of 2011, which will hopefully give the elected mayor a three-year term before the next local election."

It continues that the party believes it would make most sense to tie in the three by-elections and the children's referendum on the same day for cost-efficiency reasons.

The exact date of the elections is still unclear but the Greens' "best guess" is that they will take place at the end of March.