The service that Fine Gael's predecessor, Cumann na nGaedhael, did to the new state in the first decade of its existence can never be forgotten. It stabilised a chaotic situation and, by graciously handing over power to its arch nemesis Eamon de Valera, ensured that the foundations of democracy could never be disturbed.

Fianna Fail . . . in power for three out of every four years since the early 1930s . . . has rarely been anything other than central to the life of this state. It has many critics, but could any other party, for example, have delivered the Good Friday Agreement?

Labour's time came in the 1990s when its socially progressive politics both reflected and led a changing Ireland. The PDs, meanwhile, brought fiscal rectitude and low taxes into the political mainstream, in the process changing politics forever and . . . despite what the cynics say . . . for the better. Sinn Fein's role in the foundation of the state is well known. But it should also be acknowledged of its current incarnation that without the growth in political strength since the early 1980s, it is debatable whether the IRA would have ever decommissioned.

But it is a party that has never been in government that the country and its future generations now arguably need more than any. After 25 years on the margin of Irish politics, it is time for the Green Party to take its place in the spotlight.

The party does not have all the answers. Some of its economic policies are half-baked.

Its knee jerk 'just say no' approach to Europe is at total variance with its progressive and open image. The Greens are also still far too prone to stunt politics. The stylish new O'Connell St redevelopment demonstrates just how misjudged its campaign was to save the old, and clearly unsuitable, trees on O'Connell Street. The one party in Dail Eireann that cares about urban planning should have known better than to engage in tree hugging cliches.

But those caveats aside, the Greens not only deserve their chance to partake in a coalition, but the country needs what the Greens say they can bring to government.

Despite our image as the Emerald Isle, Ireland is environmentally backward by European standards and it requires an uncompromising Green presence in government to change that.

With the possible exception of Noel Dempsey . . . who introduced the plastic bag levy and carefully crafted retail planning guidelines . . . the occupants of the top job in the Department of Environment have failed to provide real leadership on green issues. Dick Roche, the incumbent, reacted angrily when the Greens' Eamon Ryan told him that his job was to work for the environment not Wrigley's, Ryanair or Ikea. But Ryan had a point. Roche drove a coach and four through Noel Dempsey's retail planning guidelines in order to clear the way for Ikea to set up here.

Roche's predecessor Martin Cullen disastrously played to the gallery by easing the rules on unsustainable one-off housing that are so damaging to the environment. And the government has generally shown it is more interested in protecting vested interests than in bringing down CO2 emissions, despite the threat of multibillion euro fines for breaching our Kyoto restrictions. Ireland is the fifth-highest greenhouse gas emitter per head of population on the planet and, more damning still, few people in the country seem to care. We all have a responsibility to address that situation but the leadership and education role has to come from the top. Instead, we see, for example, the building industry being cosseted by the government. Despite what would have been a clear benefit to consumers and the environment, there is clear evidence the government long fingered the upgrading of building regulations to protect the concrete industry and the building sector.

And it seems that the government is once again about to cave in to lobbying from the farming sector in relation to the nitrates directive. If the government announced it was going to introduce water charges there would a virtual revolution, but nobody appears bothered that it is once again going to be compromise on water quality.

There has also been a distinct lack of innovation from the government and the main opposition parties in relation to developing alternative sources of energy.

In Sweden, the government . . . which includes the Greens . . . is planning to replace all fossil fuels with renewables to protect the economy from rising oil prices and future scarcity. That is the kind of radical thinking that is required from the Irish government, but has been so absent.

It should be pointed out that there is more to the Greens than environmental policy, but obviously that is where its core strengths lie. And it's clear that in order to really implement a green agenda into Irish political decision-making, it needs Trevor Sargent & co with their feet under the cabinet table.

It really doesn't matter if it is in government with Fianna Fail and the PDs or in a rainbow with Fine Gael and Labour . . .

the party's time has come. Seventeen years ago, everybody knew that the average worker was getting fleeced by the amount he and she was paying in tax. Yet it took the PDs' entry into government before that situation changed. Today, it's obvious that we are not doing enough to protect our environment for the generations that come after us. And the Greens seem like the only party equipped or inclined to change that. It's high time we had a Green minister for the environment.