It was a pretty poorly Dana who appeared yesterday afternoon for an hour-long question-and-answer session with readers of The Irish Times on the Web. The exhausted candidate had a cold. "I fell asleep and creased my suit," she explained. "I hear it's going around."
Mrs Scallon was in good spirits despite her delicate condition. Sitting in an armchair in the Towers Hotel in Ballsbridge, she said she was familiar with the Internet. It was possible to walk through the streets of her hometown on the World Wide Web. She had even been known to play a round or two of virtual golf on the Royal County Down course in Newcastle.
There was little recreational value in the questions thrown at her from around the globe, and at times she might have wished she was brushing up on her handicap. Robert Ryan, and several other contributors, wanted to know the candidate's views regarding gay Irish people.
At first Dana said she didn't wish to answer the question, but then changed her mind. Gay Irish people should be treated with the same "dignity and respect" afforded to all other citizens under the Constitution.
Fiona Quinn wanted to know how, with her "avid anti-divorce" stance, Dana saw herself affecting the women's rights movement in Ireland.
Dana welcomed the opportunity to answer the question because she had been "attached to a list of adjectives which included `Ayatollah, anti-abortion, anti-divorce and even the Enemy'.
"I have been closely involved with many women's issues throughout my life," she continued. "It is a sad reality that many women have to reluctantly seek civil divorce in order to obtain financial support for themselves and/or their children."
Father John Carroll from Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, asked whether Dana believed some of her press coverage "reflects a rather limited type of pluralism among certain media people?"
Dana said she respected the right of everyone to their own opinion. But over the past weeks so many people had told her that because they believe in "God, in family or in respect for life at every stage, they have felt dismissed as though regarded as irrelevant or stupid".
Looking to the future, Paraic O Donnell asked where the candidate saw herself in 2005. "Does she, like her predecessor, aspire to participation in international political life?" he asked.
With a gentle sideswipe at Mary Robinson, Dana said that if elected she would "of course" complete her term. "I feel that I would be happy to remain in Ireland, possibly as its President for a second term," she said.
Anne Gerritty wanted to know if Dana was registered to vote here. Dana said she had applied for the right to vote and believed this was proceeding "without problems".
She sipped her hot lemon drink and observed that this meant she would be sure of "at least one vote".
The Irish Times on the Web can be contacted at www.irish- times.com/presidential/