ON 3 December 1981, about 80 people gathered at the Central Hotel in Dublin. Their attendance had been prompted by a letter published in the Irish Times. The author of the letter - Christopher Fettes - had asked if there were others like him who would be interested in setting up a branch of the UK Ecology Party in Ireland. The inaugural meeting promised "a radical alternative to capitalism and socialism". What was on offer was a party for those who favour "a storehouse economy, nonexploitive approach to nature, land reform, human scale institutions, alternative technology, a basic unearned income for all and the decentralisation of political power".

With such an opening gambit it is a wonder that anyone turned up for the first meeting. Still they did, and the discussions in the Central Hotel focused on whether the preference was for a fully-fledged political party or a campaigning organisation. As one of the founding members, Maire Mullarney, says in A Journey to Change, "A majority of those present seemed to favour forming a political party. . .

whatever emerged from the process it would be an Irish-based, Irish-directed organisation."

The Ecology Party of Ireland was born. Today we know the organisation as the Green Party.

Fettes, the man with the idea for the new grouping, attributes its arrival to the invention of the photocopier. "This meant that we could, with permission, reproduce all kinds of stimulating material for sale at cost price. The fact that we sold over £100 worth of pamphlets and small books at our very first meeting showed how eager people were to deepen their knowledge of truly radical ideas, " he says.

This is a curious book. Each year since 1981 is recalled by a different writer, all of whom have close links with the party. The individual essays vary in quality and in interest. There is plenty of table-quiz material. Question: Where did the Greens achieve their first electoral success? Answer: Kerry.

Interestingly, the individual concerned, Marcus Counihan, only lasted in local politics for three years. "The darker side of Irish politics at that time had a part to play in my decision to retire politically. Officially things were done one way, but unofficially things were done another. "The tribunals of recent years have shed some light on how politics were carried out in the '80s. To be a politician one needs the hide of a rhinoceros and I must admit that it is an attribute that I do not possess."

A similar honesty marks out many of the other contributions.

"This was a relatively uneventful year for the Green Party, " Niall �? Brochlain, the current mayor of Galway, writes as the opening sentence to his overview of 2000.

With decent electoral advances in recent times - the party now has six TDs - the Greens have shown themselves to be different from the other groupings in Leinster House.

There is a willingness to engage with issues and a hunger to practise politics with an eye to the future. There is a real sense of this seriousness running through all the writings in this book. But there is also a sense of pragmatism, a trait not always associated with the Greens.

"The Greens have never been in government in Ireland. This is the next challenge that faces the party, " Trevor Sargent writes. He may well be correct. Enda Kenny wants the party in his alternative alliance. After polling day, Bertie Ahern may well conclude that - with Labour so divided on the Fianna Fáil question - the Greens offer him the only real prospect of stable government. So while this book is not destined for the bestsellers, its pages may be well thumbed by the various handlers and advisers from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Edited with notable skill by Green TD Dan Boyle, this is a book celebrating the achievement of making the 25-year mark. But, more importantly, it is also a publication pointing to the future.