For years the Green Party has been regarded as decent, but marginal. Quietly, however, it is transforming itself. Soon it will even have a leader. Truly, the times they are a-changing.
Meeting last Saturday in Wynn's Hotel off O'Connell Street in Dublin, the Greens' National Convention decided in just 30 minutes to ditch a 20-year-old policy of not having a leader.
The decision has created surprisingly few ruffles. "Having a leader is part of the growing realism of the party. We are not as wide-eyed as we once were," said Dan Boyle, who has carried the Green flag in Cork South Central. "There is a degree of conformity that we have to go along with if we want to be taken seriously by the public."
And the Greens desperately want to be taken seriously.
Dublin North TD Trevor Sargent, first elected in November 1992, is expected to fill the role, perhaps by as early as July. So far there is no sign that he will even face a challenger, but that could change. "He is very level-headed, full of common sense and is very steady, in my view. And there is great respect for him throughout the organisation," said the Green Leinster MEP, Nuala Ahern.
The choice was limited. Essentially, it had to be between Mr Sargent and the Greens' only other TD, Dublin South East's John Gormley, or one of the party's two MEPs, Nuala Ahern or Patricia McKenna. The MEP idea was a non-runner. Neither was interested. Even if they had been, it was impractical since their EU duties would make them little more than absentee landlords.
"We felt that, particularly in the run-up to elections, it was necessary to have some extra definition. It is very hard to get the message across that you are a focused, coherent party if you don't have a leader," said Mr Gormley.
Mr Sargent acts as the Greens' unofficial leader in the Dail chamber, while he serves as party whip. "The reality is that when you get into the Dail you have to have a leader," Mr Gormley said.
In search of ideas, Mr Gormley travelled to Finland. There, the Greens have a leader who serves for a non-renewable four-year term. More importantly, they have a share of power. The experience impressed the Dublin South East TD. Nevertheless, he did not want the job back home. "We discussed this quite a bit between the two us. I said to Trevor, `Why don't you do it?' He replied, `Well, why don't you do it?' The fact is that he has been around longer."
Once in place, he will be expected to lead, but not dominate, as the Greens prepare for the next general election. "I think there has been a feeling that the party has been marking time," said Mr Sargent.
Under the rules, which borrow heavily from the Finnish example, the leader will be elected for two years, but he can remain in office if unchallenged, or if he defeats a challenger. For now, he will have few formal powers. The party's few staff will report to him, but he will be expected to work together with the National Convention and the co-ordinating committee, which has been in charge of day-to-day matters until now.
However, the Rules and Procedures Committee, which had, in the view of some, become too powerful, is no more. "I was not that keen on it being abolished," complained one of its members, John Goodwillie.
Clearly less than enthused by the leadership idea, Patricia McKenna commented: "I am not really keen on this. I don't really think it will make much difference. It wasn't a priority for me. I think the next general election is the priority, not the leadership. There is no point being the leader of one," said McKenna, who had hoped to stand for the Dail, but left it too late to find a nomination in a winnable constituency.
The strategy is central to those who believe they must adopt some ideas of the bigger parties if they are to go from being a party of protest to one that can take office. One of those ideas is constituency targeting. For years the Greens insisted that every candidate was equal. Today they believe in winnable seats; notably CarlowKilkenny, the Dun Laoghaire so-called Muesli Belt and, to a lesser extent, Cork South Central.
"I think enough Greens feel that to have policies implemented one has to be in a position to negotiate in a coalition. The fact is that Greens throughout Europe have gone into power and come out in better shape. That means that it isn't impossible." Mr Sargent said.
"To be honest, all the political parties are flexible enough to do business in a coalition with the Greens if they really wanted to do so. But our priorities are not just environmental."
"We are a political party. If we were going into government - and no decision has been made - then we would have a policy list," said Ms Mary White, a Carlow county councillor.
"If we did not get it, we would be happy to stay as a strong opposition. It is very hard to be a junior partner in government. We are aware of what has happened elsewhere," said Ms White, who is given a real chance in Carlow-Kilkenny.
The Greens' desire for power has been slow in coming. The first meeting to form the party in Ireland was held on December 31st, 1981, called by Dublin schoolteacher, Christopher Fettes. Since then, growth has been steady, if episodic. Roger Garland's 1989 Dail victory amazed the political world. It stunned the Greens. Since then they have progressed. However, the last local elections were disappointing.
In a tightly divided Dail, the Greens could be vital. "There has been some evolution in their policies. The desire for Esperanto and the `demedicalisation' of childbirth, whatever that is, is rarely heard about now," said to a Fianna Fail figure who believes they could win three Dail seats.
"But they are still not treated as a political party. Their policies are not scrutinised in the same ways as others.
"People see Fianna Fail as some amorphous thing that will bend itself out of shape to accommodate anyone. Perhaps there is some truth in that. But there are elements in the Greens who would prove difficult.
"They have to move away from their love of conspiracies. Not everything can be put down to the CIA, the Bilderburg Group and the Elders of Zion," he said.