It is 34 years since Dana won the Eurovision, but she still knows how to entertain. With just 20 minutes left on the clock to the noon deadline for nominations, the former MEP arrived at the Custom House still refusing to concede defeat, writes Joe Humphreys at the Custom House.
Both her whirlwind tour of local authorities and love- bombing of Leinster House had been in vain - but there was still the possibility of a constitu- tional challenge - under Article 12 (3, 3), or so she claimed.
As people sought out copies of Bunreacht na hÉireann, the President, Mrs McAleese, arrived, injecting her own bit of colour into proceedings. "Electric tangerine" was the consensus among fashion-watchers.
When midday came, the door closed on the "withdrawing room".
Inside, with the presidential returning officer and a legal adjudicator, were Dana; her husband, Damien; her brother and election agent John Browne; and the secretary to the President, Brian McCarthy.
At a judicious remove, in an office down the corridor, Mrs McAleese, and her husband, Martin, were joined by the Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny, and several Government ministers, among them Dick Roche, celebrating his first big event as Minister for the Environment.
Just over 20 minutes later, it was clear the game was up.
Dana emerged from the sealed room with a thumbs- down to her legal challenge.
While inside, she had appealed "in the interests of democracy" for Mrs McAleese to resign in order to trigger a fresh 60-day period for nominations. "I didn't get an answer to that one," Dana said of the request.
Her doughty performance didn't go unrewarded, though. As the curtain fell on her campaign, a man leapt from the crowd to hand her a bouquet of flowers. "I am not one of your supporters but I do think you deserved a shot," he said.
All that remained was to announce the winner in the upstairs conference room, a venue once used to launch the Government's e-voting machines. There was no talk of technical hitches or the need for a recount on this occasion, however, and the lack of suspense suited Mrs McAleese's campaign team just fine.
"Carlsberg don't do elections," one presidential aide began gleefully, "but if they did . . ." The unspoken message was that - for the victors, at least - an unopposed election is probably the best election in the world.
Mrs McAleese may not have agreed publicly. However, she clearly wasn't unhappy by yesterday's outcome. Asked about Dana's last-minute endeavours, she replied: "I did not see her here this morning, to be honest."
And so seven more years of bridge-building began. The President - her schedule delayed by Dana's intervention by no more than half an hour - left the Custom House for Bray, Co Wicklow, to visit what else but a co-educational, inter- denominational school.