Dana has denied that her presidential election campaign is backed by any Christian or other group, saying that she has no affiliation to any organisation. Speaking in Dublin yesterday, she said her successful campaign to secure nominations from four county councils had been helped by "individuals from right across the sphere of politics here who just came forward. Support came from every political party in existence". She declined to name the people who had helped her. "As some of them are in danger of disciplinary action within their own parties, I think it would be very disloyal of me to tell you, but I assure you I'm not affiliated to any organisation whatever." She continued: "There is no organisation or coalition behind me . . . I wanted to give people the chance to decide that if they believed in what I was saying, then they'd have the courage to stand with me."
She said she was glad her nomination meant that the people were no longer confined to choosing from among candidates the political candidates chose to offer to them. "There was a general opinion among the people and also among the media that the process needed to be opened somewhat.
"At the end of the day, there is an inherent sense of what is right in Irish people . . . and I guess I'm extremely proud of the men and women in the councils, many of whom stood against their party whip. I think that should be acknowledged by the people they represent - they actually face disciplinary actions in their party, but they put the people before their own political success."
She said she was not involved in organising the funding of her campaign. "We will have to accept donations," she said. "I don't want to get too involved in that because there is enough to think about. I've never been a money person and I would really rather that other people dealt with that."
Asked about her policy platform for the campaign, she said she believed in "an open society where everyone has a right to speak. It should not be a threat because your opinion is different to mine. I do respect life but I respect it at every stage. I would be as concerned about the fact that in this economic boom there are children that can't find a bed at night and are sleeping out either in a police station or in a park in terrible danger. That is not something the Irish people would want and it has never been part of our history."
She was also concerned for the elderly and for others who felt threatened. "I understand I have no political power and would have none, but at the same time surely all of us would want to shine a light where in our community there are those who feel threatened or there are those who feel that just a little light shone on them might help."