Ms Mary Banotti has formally started her campaign for the Presidency, stressing her political and legislative experience and criticising the nebulous language used by some other candidates during the campaign.
As the latest opinion poll showed her in second place, 12 percentage points behind Ms Mary McAleese, Ms Banotti said that it was too early to discuss the possibility of a transfer pact with other candidates. That would be a tactical decision to be taken in a week or so, she said. It is widely believed that Ms Banotti and Ms Adi Roche will agree a transfer pact to give one of them a chance of overtaking Ms McAleese on transfers.
Ms Banotti welcomed a statement from Ms McAleese which "challenged" the other candidates to participate in public debates this week. "I'd be delighted to debate anywhere," said Ms Banotti. Ms McAleese suggested candidates appear at debates in UCD on Wednesday and at UCC on Thursday.
"Voters are entitled to hear the candidates express their views and can compare the respective visions for the Presidency."
Ms Banotti said that it was now time "to bring some reality" to the election campaign. This should be done "in the language we have always used . . . in the voices that we have used in our working lives and in our home lives".
The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, stressed the constitutional role of the office, saying the President was far more than an ambassador or symbol. "The President exercises crucial powers at the heart of our constitutional democracy. These are powers that require discretion, political judgment and a broad experience of Irish life."
Speaking at the campaign launch, he said Ms Banotti was such a person. She had "a good mix of practical social concern and real political and legislative experience".
The decision to refuse or grant a request for a general election by a Taoiseach who had been defeated in the Dail was a judgment that needed to be made "at extremely short notice and under an intense spotlight", he said.
"Only someone with a good knowledge of the precise workings of our political system and of political realities at the time could make this vital judgment well."
The other constitutional power of the President was to decide to refer a Bill to the Supreme Court. "There are very finely balanced judgments to be made by the President about what is the best course to follow with a particular Bill in the interests of the people."
He said that if a Bill is referred to the Supreme Court, and is found to be constitutional "on the basis of abstract arguments made by counsel before it has been tried in practice, it can never be challenged again before the courts on grounds of constitutionality, no matter how unjust it may turn out to be in practice".
Ms Banotti agreed that there were times when referring legislation to the Supreme Court could have negative effects. "There are times when in referring legislation to the Supreme Court, you are in danger of imprinting in stone legislation that cannot ever be changed," she said.
She said she was not criticising any decisions of Mrs Mary Robinson to refer legislation. "Mary Robinson exercised her own judgment and I will exercise mine," she said.
Ms Banotti said she had been "connected and rooted to Ireland and its causes all my life - rooted to change and a better way of life for all of us.
"I fought for change long before I became a politician - in the ghettos of New York, in Africa and here at home. I fought for change when I co-founded the Rutland Centre, helping people move away from substance abuse. I fought for change when with other friends we founded Women's Aid. I fought for change, putting heart and mind into protecting our environment. I have fought injustice at home and abroad. I am rooted here. This is where I raised my daughter."