In Kilkenny last October the Green Party overcame its aversion to the concept of having a leader, which they had for 20 years believed would inevitably lead to the grassroots losing control.
Since then Trevor Sargent has gradually and quietly begun to establish himself in the role, even if he is a politician who prefers politics by consensus rather than by diktat.
The change reflects the Greens' gradual acceptance of the realities of political life, as their counterparts in Germany, Finland and elsewhere have done over the past decade.
In the Dáil, Sargent and fellow Green, Dublin South East TD Mr John Gormley, have worked well with both Fine Gael and Labour on the Opposition benches, frequently impressing both.
Defeated in the race for the leadership, Mr Gormley should be elected as party chairman today to ensure that the organisation's administration is put on a more professional, if still largely voluntary, basis.
For years, the Greens, first with one TD and then with two, struggled on the margins of politics: earnest in their ideas but rarely looking as if they would ever turn them into reality.
Local elections during the 1990s produced a crop of keen, ambitious Green councillors such as Paul Gogarty in Dublin Mid West, Eamon Ryan in Dublin South and Ciaran Cuffe in Dún Laoghaire.
"I can see that they want to get things done and they are prepared to take the unpopular decisions if that is necessary for the public good," Mr Sargent told The Irish Times.
Current national opinion polls show the party with a steady 5 per cent, and even more in Dublin. If reflected on polling day, Sargent and Gormley may not be on their own in the Dáil.
In Carlow Kilkenny, the Greens' Deputy Leader, Cllr Mary White looks set to be fighting for the last seat with Fianna Fáil if Fine Gael's vote there falls by as much as recent polls predict.
In Dublin South-East, Mr Gormley has so far, according to the polls, remained ahead of Progressive Democrat Attorney General Mr Michael McDowell, whom he defeated by just 27 votes in the 1997 general election.
The campaigns in a number of other Dublin constituencies appear also to be going well, while third-time candidate Cllr Dan Boyle remains determinedly hopeful about his chances in Cork South Central.
The possible post-election arithmetic leaves coalition as a possibility, if no more than that. "They now accept that to implement their ideas they have to be part of a coalition," said one Labour Party member.
This weekend the Greens will deliberate on their post-election shopping list: aware that it must be imaginative enough to attract votes, yet practical enough not to scare support away.
The key issues will include commitments on waste management, including a ban on incineration, more recycling and re-use and reductions in packaging of all forms. "None of this is rocket science," said Mr Sargent.
The Greens want the emphasis in the National Development Plan to be changed radically, to build fewer roads and instead invest massively in public transport.
