THE Greens last night realised the inconvenient truth — that it is impossible to hold onto their principles while at the same time reaching out for power.

Two full ministries for the Greens would be in line with previous Fianna Fáil-led coalitions.

THERE were scenes of jubilation in the Mansion House in Dublin last night after Green Party members voted overwhelmingly to enter government with Fianna Fáil.

DAN BOYLE’S immediate political future is inextricably linked to the outcome of last night’s Green Party conference.

FIANNA FÁIL said that the Green Party was content to leave questions over Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s personal finances for the planning tribunal to answer.

LIKE a bashful couple edging towards each other for their first kiss, Fianna Fáil and the Greens continue to play out their strange Victorian courtship.

THE Greens cited “insurmountable differences” in four key areas for the breakdown in talks — climate change, education, health and government reform.

FIANNA Fail and the Green Party were supposed to be inching closer to a deal around 3.30pm yesterday afternoon when the latter notified journalists to say the negotiations had been temporarily suspended.

FOUR political parties were issued with litter fines yesterday for allegedly failing to remove election posters since ballot day a fortnight ago.

FIANNA Fáil last night expressed confidence it can cut a coalition deal with the Greens in the next 48 hours.

THE talks between negotiating teams from Fianna Fáil and the Green Party have concentrated on policy areas only and will not turn to the actual composition of the government until the end of the process.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern will move to implement Fianna Fáil’s promise to scrap stamp duty for first-time buyers the first day the new Government begins work.

LIKE a furtive farmer at a Lisdoonvarna find-a-wife- dance Taoiseach BertieAhern has been eyeing up potential brides.

MOVES to put together a Government coalition intensified last night as Fianna Fáil and the Greens formally began sounding each other out.

NO SOONER is one election over than a host more are set to begin.

DISCUSSIONS between Fianna Fáil and its potential partners in government will not begin in earnest until later this week, although soundings were taken from independents yesterday, the Irish Examiner understands.

FORMER junior minister Tim O’Malley yesterday revealed he is quitting political life, ending a political dynasty dating back to the foundation of his party.

FIVE MORE years? Maybe, maybe not. We’ve grown accustomed to long Dáil terms, and we seem to have forgotten that two to three years was always more usual.

NERVOUS candidates in the Wicklow constituency had neither the comfort of hot sweet tea nor spending a penny yesterday after a contamination scare cut the water supply.

FIANNA FÁIL will form the next government — that much was clear from a very early stage yesterday.

FINE GAEL’S seat surge saw them within striking distance of their 50-TD target — but the gains came at the expense of Labour and the smaller parties, not Fianna Fáil.

SINN FÉIN’S ambitions of doubling its number of Dáil seats suffered a complete reverse yesterday, with the party actually losing one of the five seats it held in the 29th Dáil.

A TRIUMPHANT election for Fianna Fáil — and a complete reverse of the outlook at the beginning of the election.

THE expected Green tide last night turned direction and drowned the party’s hopes of substantial General Election gains.

FIANNA FÁIL’S Billy Kelleher was the first deputy to be returned to the Dáil in the four-seat constituency of Cork North Central yesterday evening.

JUST after 6.30pm, the hush descended, as respectful a silence as ever gifted to Ronan O’Gara on any occasion he steps up to the ball. Except this time it was Martin Harvey, Cork city sheriff, stepping up to the microphone to finally announce the first count results.

FIANNA FÁIL brought off a spectacular triumph at the Cork East count in Mallow where Minister of State Michael Ahern headed the poll just ahead of his party colleague Ned O’Keeffe.

ONE of the barometer constituencies did exactly as one would have expected in light of the national outcome, returning two Fianna Fáil candidates and one for Fine Gael, just as it did five years ago.

THE Office of the Data Protection Commissioner said yesterday it had received a number of calls from people complaining they had been bombarded with text messages from election candidates.

Last year the electoral amendment was passed giving prisoners the right to vote for the first time.

After the bruising, rollercoaster ride of election 2007, Political Correspondent Shaun Connolly summarises what each has on offer.

A SWING to or from a particular party in 16 bellwether constituencies will tell us a lot about the national trends, and could determine the overall shape of the 30th Dáil.

THE last opinion poll published before today’s General Election shows that the outcome remains very much in the balance.

AN ANGRY pensioner has hit out at Kerry County Council who he blames for making him miss his first election in 75 years.

WHEN you go to the polls today you are sending your vote on a long and winding journey and its destination largely depends on your fellow electors.

A BITTER feud between rival Fianna Fáil candidates has descended into open warfare just hours before the start of polling.

WELL, we may have admired the independent candidate in Laois-Offaly, John Bracken, for two things — his amazing head of hair and the fact that he had penned his own song.

A LABOUR election candidate has returned an unsolicited €500 donation from a property development company and queried whether the firm believes it can buy influence.

ARTS, Sports and Tourism Minister John O’Donoghue is giving away a section of his constituency in an attempt to oust Jackie Healy Rae from Kerry South.

FINE Gael is determined to see two of its biggest hitters join the growing list of civil wars exploding in Cork East.

A DIRECTIVE to all-Irish schools from Education Minister Mary Hanafin that they must begin teaching English to children no later than the second term of junior infants is not to be issued until after the election.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern was given the worst possible welcome to the Midlands yesterday with a reminder that the economy is not as secure as he believes it is.

ENDA KENNY was still running yesterday, but it was the voters he wanted scared.

FIANNA Fáil will accept Sinn Féin support to get Bertie Ahern re-elected Taoiseach.