Prof Mary McAleese laughed. Broadcaster John Bowman smirked. The audience, packed sardine-like into the lecture hall, roared. "Did Dana worry the candidate as much as she did everyone else?" a student had asked. The university lecturer was on familiar ground and was thoroughly enjoying herself.
The hilarity occurred during an hour-long question and answer session chaired by John Bowman at University College, Dublin. More than 600 students spilled out of the doors and on to the stairways of UCD's Theatre M.
Some had come not expecting to be impressed with McAleese, saying she was "stuffy and conservative". They were, they said later, pleasantly surprised.
The meeting had a rather inauspicious beginning. Prof McAleese's opening address was peppered with references to the spirit of Ireland and a quotation from that presidential essential, Seamus Heaney.
The first question, when it came, was predictable. "What qualities does the candidate think she would bring to the Aras which none of the other candidates will bring?" asked a student. It was one of the most important job interviews on this island, said McAleese. Her status as a lawyer, although "you don't have to be a lawyer to be President", would bring a "particular wisdom" to the role.
Things got far more interesting when she was asked whether she was a mutually acceptable candidate to Fianna Fail and the PDs or rather "a candidate who managed to get the nomination owing to Mr Reynolds's misfortune". There was a pause, some mischievous laughter, and a mock frown appeared on Prof McAleese's face. The question, John Bowman, informed the candidate was what they called a "googly" in cricket.
The professor regained her composure to say she was proud to have the backing of both Government parties and had a "wee bit of difficulty" with this conspiracy theory. "There was no great conspiracy and I was never part of one nor would I ever be . . . I would like to think that on the day it was I who carried the day, not because of any perverse view or any conspiracy against Albert but, rather, because they thought I was the best candidate for the job."
How did she think unionists would react should she be elected? The unionist community should not be regarded as one big monolithic structure, she said, but she acknowledged there were those who would view someone like her with suspicion. She spoke of one unionist councillor she had never met who phoned to offer his support.
"But he didn't have a vote," said Mr Bowman.
"Not yet," quipped Prof McAleese.
And then there was that other Northern question. As a resident of Northern Ireland, should she be running for the head of State's job in the Republic? "I am an Irishwoman," she said defiantly, "nothing more, nothing less, and I am no less an Irishwoman because I was born in Belfast."
There was a burst of sustained applause but there was little sympathy for a student who asked what she thought of the election being held on a Thursday instead of a Friday, thereby creating a situation where many students couldn't vote.
What about the postal vote? she responded. The student replied that it was too late to register. "Come on guys, surely there was a time when it wasn't too late," Prof McAleese said irritably.
The spanner in the works was thrown by the questioner who asked whether the candidate thought the peace process was in safe hands "now that Ray Burke had resigned".
"There is a breed of journalism that was like a commando raid who wanted its answers right-now-this-minute," said McAleese. She had enormous pity for a man who had given 30 years of his life and, in the face of his brother's death, had to make a decision of such tragic proportions and did it with such "generosity of spirit".
"Are we beyond pity?" she asked.
But back to the burning issue of whether she was worried about Dana. "I want to backtrack to something I said earlier," she said. "Are you going to answer the question?" interjected Mr Bowman, to the delight of the students. Prof McAleese said she did not intend to comment in a critical way on any of the other candidates. That was a job for those assembled.
"And you are looking for transfers," prompted Mr Bowman.
"Thank you for reminding me," smiled the candidate.