Analysis:The Taoiseach's renewed overtures to the Greens over the weekend has vindicated the negotiating tactics of Green Party leader Trevor Sargent, who pulled his team out of talks with Fianna Fáil last Friday afternoon because he judged that Fianna Fáil was simply not taking his party seriously enough to warrant a deal for government, writes Stephen Collins, Political Editor.
At the time it was obvious that the Green negotiating team, led by John Gormley and Dan Boyle, were shattered by the breakdown of the talks and would have been prepared to continue on to try and find a solution.
However, Mr Sargent judged Fianna Fáil was stringing things out and not making the kind of commitments on the big issues that were necessary to get a deal.
The Taoiseach's renewed wooing over the weekend and the request to the Greens to submit their list of outstanding issues yesterday was a vindication of Mr Sargent's strategy.
Of course there is still no guarantee of success and the simultaneous negotiations Fianna Fáil is conducting with the Progressive Democrats and four of the Independents shows the party is attempting to keep all options open.
By Friday afternoon the Fianna Fáil negotiating team had teased out in detail what the Greens wanted and, while they were prepared to make some concessions, they were not prepared to give the minimum Mr Sargent judged would be necessary to get the endorsement of his party conference which was planned for yesterday.
Strangely, one of the Fianna Fáil negotiators, Séamus Brennan, came out almost immediately to suggest that a lot of progress had been made and there was a basis for a resumption of the talks.
The question was why the Fianna Fáil team had allowed the Greens to walk out if agreement was that close.
The Taoiseach's intervention over the weekend has reinforced Mr Brennan's point and it is clear that he is anxious not to let the chance of a deal with the Greens slip away too easily.
In spite of his immediate post-election suggestion that his favoured government would be a deal with the PDs and "like-minded" Independents, it seems that the Taoiseach is determined to start off with as big a Dáil majority to give him a comfortable safety net in case things go wrong.
The question, though, is what further concessions he is prepared to make in order to ensure the Greens come on board.
While no details emerged over the weekend about the precise nature of the Green demands that led to the breakdown, Mr Sargent was adamant that there were "big ticket" areas where it had not been possible to reach agreement and these included climate change, education, health care and the reform of local government.
There was speculation that the Greens wanted clear commitments on the reduction of carbon emissions, year by year, during the lifetime of the next government, the introduction of a carbon tax, the scrapping of the plan for the co-location of new private hospitals and big changes in the motorway programme.
Fianna Fáil sources expressed the view that while the talks had been conducted in a very amicable atmosphere, the Greens were simply looking for too much and that the cost to the exchequer was too high.
Regardless of the differences, the Taoiseach yesterday sought to minimise the problems saying the Greens had brought forward some good ideas in the area of climate change.
Mr Ahern also said the party's policies on transport, health and education were not incompatible with those of Fianna Fáil.
He said that further discussion would be required for the two parties to reach the point where the mix of policies would be politically sustainable, economically feasible and in the national interest.
Fianna Fáil followed up the Taoiseach's conciliatory noises by contacting the Greens to ask if there was a basis for new talks. The Greens responded by sending Fianna Fáil a document reiterating their key demands.
If the Taoiseach's comments are to be taken at face value Fianna Fáil should be prepared to make real concessions.
If they are big enough then a Green Party conference may even be held on Wednesday to enable the party's TDs to enter government when the Dáil meets on Thursday.
Green sources said yesterday that a major symbolic gesture by Fianna Fáil would make the task of selling a deal to the conference easier.
One suggested gesture was a commitment to scrap the M3 motorway past the Hill of Tara in Meath.
If Fianna Fáil was prepared to do something as dramatic as scrapping the M3, the Greens could reciprocate by not objecting to the rest of the roads programme.
The M3 was cited as an example of the kind of thing that Fianna Fáil would have to do rather than a bottom line. A serious gesture of some kind was deemed necessary to convince Green Party members that a change of direction in government policy had taken place.
A fascinating aspect of the negotiations will be whether the Taoiseach is prepared to give more than his negotiating team and how they will respond if he does.
As well as being responsible for the nation's finances, Mr Cowen is aware that many Fianna Fáil members have begun to express their concern about giving too much to the Green Party.
At this stage it appears that Mr Ahern will not need the support of the Greens to be elected as taoiseach when the Dáil meets on Thursday.
A deal with the two PDs and four Independents would guarantee him victory, even if the four Sinn Féin TDs voted against him.
However, Mr Ahern wants the Greens for extra security.
The only question is whether the price is one that Fianna Fáil is prepared to pay.