Green Party:The Green Party has been encouraged to declare pre-election support for Fine Gael and Labour by Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte or else find that the two parties could secure a Dáil majority on their own.
Reflecting increasing confidence in the Labour ranks, Mr Rabbitte said: "I think the Greens would bring an interesting dimension to government and if the Greens want to make some statement between now and polling day I, for one, would welcome it.
"But the actual alliance for change is comprised of Labour and Fine Gael, and the alternative is to elect the outgoing Government for more of the same," he told RTÉ's This Week programme.
However, the Green Party chairman, John Gormley, insisted his party would stick to its national conference decision to fight as a distinct party.
Some elements of the policies put forward by Fine Gael and Labour, including political funding, leave the Greens uncomfortable.
"The question is whether we are going to get Fianna Fáil-lite, or real change. If people want real change, then they must vote for the Greens. We are going to say to the voters do you want real change, or do you want just a change of personnel?" said Mr Gormley, who is running in Dublin South East.
He questioned Fine Gael's decision to back away from favouring a ban on all corporate donations to political parties.
"They want to continue with the present system that goes to the very heart of planning. This goes to the root of Irish society: the relationship between developers and political parties. We are very uncomfortable with that," Mr Gormley told The Irish Times yesterday.
The Labour Party privately believes that support for the Greens, as shown by a number of opinion polls, has been squeezed since the election campaign began, and that the controversy surrounding Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's finances has made a post-election coalition for the Greens with Fianna Fáil impossible.
However, some in the Labour Party argue that the Greens' refusal formally to back the alternative coalition means that some of its vote can be attracted to Labour.
Acknowledging that the party has faced a tough campaign, Mr Gormley said a Progressive Democrats-ordered leaflet drop questioning the Greens' policies had hurt.
"We have had to deal with an onslaught of propaganda. While it hasn't done anything for the Progressive Democrats, it has eroded support for us.
"We have to say to people that the Green component is absolutely essential if they are really worried about some of the issues that we are concerned about," he said.
Prior to the election, the larger political parties had all spoken about global warming as being the biggest issue facing humanity, Mr Gormley said.
"If it has been the biggest facing humanity since the campaign began then you could have fooled me. It hasn't been brought up by them," he argued.
"If the Greens are not part of the next government then the issues that we are pursuing will not really be pursued. We are going to have to grab the election by the scruff of the neck and make that point to people again and again between now and polling day," Mr Gormley said.
