SOON after the President announced that she would not be seeking a second term in Aras an Uachtarain, the Government campaign to secure for her the prestigious post of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights swung into action.

She herself as President could not lobby, but her credentials as an international lawyer and her record in human rights were the most impressive card she and the Government had. Every country with which Ireland has diplomatic relations was lobbied at the highest level possible.

Where Ireland did not have diplomatic relations, every opportunity was taken by the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, and other ministers to press her case when they met counterparts at international conferences.

The timing of Mrs Robinson's candidacy is intriguing. The human rights post was not vacant at the beginning of the year, a period when she said she would announce her future intentions about a second term. She delayed the announcement and by the time she made it on March 12th, the incumbent, Mr Jose Ayalo Lasso, had unexpectedly returned to Ecuador to become Foreign Minister.

Only Mrs Robinson can say if her decision not to stand for a second term was influenced by the vacancy which had opened up three weeks - previously for the prestigious UN post for which she was so well qualified.

Several days after her announcement, the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, was in Washington for the St Patrick's Day celebrations, including the visit to the White House. He took the opportunity to seek US support from VicePresident Gore, who replaced President Clinton at the festivities when the President was confined to quarters with a leg injury.

Later that evening, as the party got going at the White House, the Taoiseach slipped upstairs to see Mr Clinton. It is believed he took the opportunity to lobby again for Mrs Robinson.

While the US never broadcast its support for Mrs Robinson, it strongly supported her behind the scenes, and made this clear to the new UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan. This was a delicate matter, as any indication that she was the US candidate could have destroyed her chances.

US support would have weighed heavily with Mr Annan, who was engaged in negotiations with the ad ministration and with Congress on a package of UN reforms in exchange for payment of the US back dues of, over $1 billion.

The Irish strategy was to avoid presenting Mrs Robinson as the "western candidate". The developing world had not been keen on the creation of this UN post in the firs place, as it was seen as tilted more towards the western concept of human rights, stressing freedom of speech and conscience and the banning of torture.

For the developing world, human rights have also a collective aspect and should include freedom from economic exploitation by the richer countries.

The Department of Foreign Affairs campaign emphasised that Mrs Robinson would be a "bridge builder" between the contrasting views on human rights. Her own speeches and visits to African and other Third World countries had shown that she supported such a mediating role between opposing views.

As the campaign got going, it became clear that she was well ahead of other contenders. Names mentioned as interested in the human rights post included the former Finnish defence minister, Ms Elizabeth Rehn, and former Norwegian prime minister, Ms Gro Brundtland. There was also mention of candidates from Japan and Malaysia.

But in the end the only other formal candidate was the Costa Rica ambassador to the United States, Ms Sonia PicadoSotela, who was officially supported by the group of Latin American and Caribbean states at the UN. The group urged, Mr Annan to appoint her because the post had been held by a Latin American representative and she also had excellent human rights credentials.

The only blip in the Irish lobbying campaign came when the Tanaiste sought support from the foreign ministers of Mexico and Chile when he met them in the Netherlands and the impression was given in media reports that they had promised him their "enthusiastic" support for Mrs Robinson.

In fact, the ministers were committed to supporting Ms Picado and had simply spoken of Mrs Robinson in flattering terms with customary Latin American courtesy. But the Latin American lobby was not strong enough to counter the stream of support for Mrs Robinson coming in from capitals around the world, thanks to the Iveagh House campaign.

One potentially serious obstacle was the attitude of China, which is very sensitive on its human rights record, as it is frequently challenged in western countries. In fact, Ireland had offended China by backing an EU attempt to criticise it at the human rights commission meeting in Geneva recently.

While China's Security Council right of veto did not come into play for this appointment, if it had indicated to Mr Annan that Mrs Robinson was unacceptable for the human rights post he would have had a serious problem. While he has the authority to make the nomination to the General Assembly, he would have had to weigh up whether he could risk antagonising China.

As far as Irish diplomats can gather, China did not express any opposition. Mr Annan got the person he probably wanted from the beginning.