The Green Party is developing sharper political instincts but still needs to define clearly its political message, writes Liam Reid, Political Reporter
During its annual conference this weekend the Green Party received a pleasant 25th birthday present in the form of an opinion poll which put its support at 7 per cent, its highest in recent years.
It is one of a number of reasons the Green Party leadership may be in a happy mood.
The generally successful annual conference had both a higher attendance and greater coherence than its last one in Cork in May 2005.
They might even see as positive the fact that the party or its policies are no longer dismissed by its opponents as peripheral: yesterday, as the Greens were receiving the customary post-conference publicity, the Government chose to roll out a large part of its €65 million renewable energy grant scheme.
This year's conference saw the party outlining a set of detailed policies, aimed no doubt at showing voters that the Green Party in government would be prudent and responsible.
It was also marked by the fact that delegates appeared to look to the party's six TDs for leadership and guidance, and they got it.
The Dáil deputies sought to give the party an identity outside its core issues of the environment and sustainable development.
They also reiterated the decision made last year that they would not form an election pact with any party.
Indeed, both Labour and Fine Gael came in for sideswipes throughout the day by virtually every TD, with Trevor Sargent accusing them yesterday of failing to produce the policies needed to deal with modern challenges.
Perhaps the most electorally significant policy position adopted by the party during the weekend was the proposal by the party's finance spokesman, Dan Boyle, that the Greens commit themselves to leaving income and corporation tax unchanged if elected.
He argued successfully to delegates that such a commitment would be "a contract with the voters" and one which would protect the party against charges during an election campaign that it would increase the tax rates if elected.
Throughout Saturday, the party also further expanded its healthcare policy, one which focused on primary care and preventative measures.
Dublin Mid-West TD and education spokesman Paul Gogarty steered through a commitment to increase spending on education by up to €1 billion in its first year of office if elected.
The party also gave a commitment to setting a 2050 target for achieving a conversion by the Irish economy from fossil fuels to renewable energy resources, at the urging of its energy spokesman, Éamon Ryan.
Ciarán Cuffe also drove through a commitment to reforming the finances of local government and scrapping the current decentralisation plan.
This is one commitment the Government parties are likely to highlight during a general election campaign - for while a majority in Dublin opposes the decentralisation plan, majorities support it in other regions of the State, according to recent opinion polls.
The party leader, Trevor Sargent, delivered some well-constructed attacks on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Fianna Fáil, keeping up his recent criticisms of the party in relation to tribunal revelations about payments and donations in the 1990s to sitting TDs and senators.
He expanded this attack at the opening of the conference, when he described the Government as "a disgrace" to the 1916 tradition, claiming it had failed to deliver on the core aspiration of the Proclamation to cherish all the children of the nation equally.
This was a theme he followed up successfully in his main speech, calling into question the first and last parts of Fianna Fáil's new slogan of Unity, Prosperity, Community.
The Greens may well be in buoyant mood today, but in Kilkenny at the weekend there was continuing evidence of the party's key weakness: its failure to present its policies and message in a way that can be easily understood by voters, and attractive to them.
The muddled image and message of the Green Party have seen it fail to capitalise on a political environment that should suit its core political philosophy well.
Since the 2002 election, Irish political debate has moved away from one of economic management and is now dominated by quality of life issues, such as public transport and childcare.
The concept that the key national economic aim should be the improvement of citizens' lives, and not simply the boosting of the economic numbers that are regularly recited litany-style by Government Ministers, is core to Green philosophy. Despite this, the Green Party lost both of its European Parliament seats in 2004.
Its performance in the Meath and Kildare North by-elections, where it polled less than 7 per cent, was even more disappointing, given that the campaign was dominated by commuter-related issues.
The need for the party to refine its message, and distil it to a number of key issues and promises, is something the party leadership has been told about by fellow Green leaders who have achieved power in other European countries.
It was perhaps Green Party chairman John Gormley who, in his speech to the conference, summarised the direction the party needed to follow.
Referring to Michael McDowell's now famous "meat in the sandwich" speech, he said he agreed that smaller parties would play a "pivotal" role in forming a government after the next general election.
The party would provide voters with a real choice by showing the policy differences between it and the PDs.
He also spoke of the need for the party to rebrand itself in the run-up to the next election, and the need to spend money if it is to fight a good general election campaign. Finances for the party may be difficult, given its decision at the weekend to continue its ban on corporate donations.
With 2006 being its 25th birthday, the Green Party was in reflective mode, looking at how it evolved from a group of generally autonomous local organisations interested in environment and development issues, to one where it has a realistic expectation of being a "power broker" in coalition talks following the next election.
However, if it is to run a successful general election campaign, the party has still to decide on what core issues it will seek electoral support.
Otherwise, it may actually find itself fighting to hold on to some of its six seats rather than increasing its number of TDs to between eight and nine, as its election strategy aims to do.