These talks lasted six full days, during which time many people were starting to get used to the idea of a Rainbow coalition of a different kind - one which clearly could do business with Fianna F�il on a lot of issues judging by the amount of agreement both sides insisted was there.

It is true that chief negotiator and leading party strategist Dan Boyle, the Cork TD who lost his seat in the general election, always warned that the difficulties should not be underestimated. But when party leader Trevor Sargent revealed the list of disagreements between the parties - it was like a mini-election manifesto and included climate change, education reform, local government reform, transport reform and health issues - you had to wonder what they actually agreed on.

If there were so many obstacles to be overcome, the Greens made a real mistake in encouraging the widespread belief that a deal could be completed.

But hopes were high, particularly among the half of the electorate who did not vote for Fianna F�il or for their "gene pool" TDs, that an alternative voice could be heard in Cabinet. It wasn't the ministerial jobs the Greens could gain, or the package of promises they could beat out of FF - though this was, of course, important.

It was the fact that a Green presence would have encapsulated in some way the mood for an alternative way of doing things that was evident on the doorsteps during the election.

A Green presence in government would have meant that as events occurred over the next five years, as problems arose and policies were hammered out, a Green voice would have been there, arguing a point of view that may not even have been considered by the dominant centre-right parties of FF and the PDs.

Green voters always knew that going into coalition with Fianna Fail was fraught with problems but this was their first chance of exercising real influence since they were founded 25 years ago.

Now, they must advance their cause of better public transport, cuts in carbon emissions, equality in the health service and education and greater accountability in the planning process from the opposition benches. However small the chances they might have had of getting even some of their policies implemented as a tiny partner to the Fianna F�il giant, they may have none now.

There is talk of the Greens turning to Fine Gael and Labour but the numbers are not good enough to make this an option.

Fianna F�il have stressed their own goodwill towards the Greens but have pointed out the financial cost of many of that party's demands.

So now, at this stage anyway, it looks as though Bertie Ahern will take office for the third time as Taoiseach next week, supported by the PDs and certain Independents.

This is a magnificent achievement for any political leader. He won that term on the back of presenting himself and his government as fine economic managers who gave us the confidence to succeed on the global stage.

The "next steps" will be Fianna Fail's but, as recent economic indicators suggest, they are highly unlikely to be the great confident, leaping strides of the past decade.

Let's hope that Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen are as good at managing the economy as they tell us.