ANALYSIS: The party launched its manifesto to the sound of children traipsing between seats, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Reporter
The Green Party is different. Other parties' manifesto launches have lots of colourful backdrops, computer presentations and dark-suited men of firm purpose.
The Greens, on the other hand, have children, and lots of them, tripping between seats, occasionally drowning out the words of the adults at the top table.
Yesterday, the party launched its political menu in the Hilton Hotel, on Dublin's Grand Canal, still confident that Election 2002 is going to produce the long-awaited breakthrough.
The children's theme was quickly taken up by outgoing TD Mr John Gormley: "If you look around this room, you will see loads of children. That's appropriate. Because we are beyond elections.
"This is what sustainability is about. It's living proof of the statement that we don't inherit the Earth from our parents. We borrow it from our children," he declared.
In the past, such imagery would have been regarded as further evidence of the Greens "woolliness" and inability to occupy the corridors of power. But this time, the Greens do not want to be left on the sidelines.
"We have been speaking about quality of life for 20 years. Other parties seem to have discovered it in recent days," said Mr Gormley, to loud applause.
Asked to name the non-negotiables, Mr Gormley immediately mentioned a ban on incineration, which is one of the issues troubling constituents in his Dublin South East constituency.
"We are a party of government. But we are not afraid of Opposition. We are in power in many continental countries. There, our colleagues have made a huge difference to people's lives."
Outside, a key Labour Party adviser, who had, appropriately enough, travelled by bicycle, was in search of a copy of a manifesto. Plans for the post-election coalition negotiations are already being made.
The points of conflict are many. The demand for a reversal in the national roads programme will cause serious problems with Fine Gael and Labour, if the three ever get the chance to hammer out a coalition deal.
Both Fine Gael and Labour want motorways, and fast. The Greens want funds shifted on to public transport, except where individual towns need to be bypassed.
On taxation, further difficulties can be predicted. In its finance section, the party says it will transfer the "bias" from taxes on income to eco-taxes. "This will mean different - not more - taxation."
In the next paragraph, however, the Greens go on to say that the total tax take must rise by 0.5 per cent a year "through additional taxes other than personal taxation".
The 3 per cent tax on industrial energy use will cause apoplexy within the business community, though, in reality, the Kyoto global warming agreement will make such moves inevitable over time.
Labour's idea of higher Pay Related Social Insurance finds little favour with the Greens, which actually want it to be cut by even more than Charlie McCreevy managed last year.
The demand for a 15 per cent Corporation Tax is evidence of the Greens' thirst for office. Though an increase, the proposed bill for business - even allowing for the 5 per cent banks profit tax - is modest compared with the party's history.
Each of the potential coalition parties want changes to tax individualisation. However, Fine Gael wants single-income families brought upwards, while the others want phased change the other way.
The Nice Treaty offers more potential for trouble in late-night talks. A second referendum on the existing treaty is out, say the Greens, so too is Irish involvement in the EU's Rapid Reaction Force.
The Greens' demand for more Third World aid will be difficult to reconcile in a world where the Exchequer feels the pinch. Ireland, they say, should meet the UN's 0.7 per cent target immediately and hit 1 per cent within five years.
On waste management, renewable energy, etc., the Greens's ideas are shared - though their urge to actually achieve the targets could prove problematic in office, if hard choices had to be made.
Departing the Dáil with just two seats, the Greens need to add to that total for any of this to matter. Currently, opinion polls show them with a steady 5/6 per cent, and more in Dublin.
The party leader, Mr Trevor Sargent, should be safe in Dublin North, though Mr Gormley faces a monumental battle if he is to emerge unscathed from the battlefield of Dublin South East.
In Carlow/Kilkenny, the party's deputy leader, Ms Mary White,will be in contention for the last seat, though a rise in Fianna Fáil's national share of the vote could scupper her chances.
Issues such as incineration and traffic could play strongly in the Greens' favour in other places, even if their solutions might not.