The President, Mrs McAleese, has been the Republic's chief counsellor, using the language of inclusion, writes Jim Duffy
The race is now on, though whether it will be a one-horse contest like 1952 or 1983, when Seán T. O'Kelly and Paddy Hillery were re-elected by acclamation, or will follow the pattern of 1966 when President de Valera had a battle royal for re-election, remains to be seen.
So how does Mary McAleese's first term stand up when analysed? Overall she would be regarded as a very good, rather than a great, President. She has had a high profile compared with some of her predecessors and has been an acclaimed performer on State visits. While some may compare her with Mary Robinson, a better comparison is with Paddy Hillery.
Robinson's style was consistently leadership- and issue-orientated, whereas McAleese in tone, though haphazardly taking leadership positions, opted overall more for the traditional presidential "public relations officer" role.
Like Hillery she has been a very hard worker, and like Hillery little of the scale of the work has been recognised by the media, in contrast to media fascination with everything Robinson did.
The lack of focus on McAleese's work has meant that when occasionally she did take up leadership roles, for example, over Northern Ireland or gay rights, she got little or no publicity. The fact that on visits to Northern Ireland DUP councillors met her speaks volumes for her success in Anglo-Irish relations (and the incredible work of her husband, Martin).
Similarly her willingness to become the first Irish president to open a gay resource centre was indicative of her willingness to take stands on issues, particularly given her strong pro-gay speech at the function, which received no media coverage whatsoever.
Surprisingly for a former journalist, she was not always skilled at handling the media and giving it what it needed. Abandoning formal dress at presidential functions predictably backfired.
The ritualised "top hat and tails" credentials, one of the few Irish presidential ceremonies in existence, was guaranteed to be photogenic and so get into the newspapers.
Mary standing around casually chatting to lounge-suited ambassadors wasn't and was avoided by photographers, to the astonishment of people in the Áras who did not understand where all the "traditional" coverage had gone.
Like Robinson, Anglo-Irish relations has been a particular strength, with her exceptionally good relationship with Queen Elizabeth built on their relationship prior to her Presidency. She also broke new presidential ground by attending a British royal ceremony, the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (the last queen consort of Ireland).
A particularly historic moment saw Mrs McAleese, Queen Elizabeth and King Albert II of the Belgians together opening a memorial to Ireland's first World War dead. McAleese also turned Robinson's ground-breaking attendance at Remembrance Day ceremonies into a permanent annual part of the President's calendar.
She had her mistakes, too, most notably by taking communion at Christ Church. Though acclaimed by some, it was in reality a potential disaster for the Presidency. A wiser president might have raised the issue in a speech, generating a debate. But to be unilaterally photographed breaking the rules of one religion in the cathedral of another was provocative and divisive in a job that requires subtlety.
As expected, it provoked the biggest Anglican-Catholic row in generations and made it difficult for Protestants to invite their country's President to communion services lest her presence provoke "round two" if she took communion, cries of "Rome rule" if she didn't.
Future presidents may well be haunted by "Will they? Won't they?" questions every time they attend communion services. It is no accident that heads of state worldwide avoid religious topics, but especially inter-communion, viewing it as a minefield.
Nor did she realise at the time that her actions could have dragged the Government into the row. Had the Vatican criticised her, given its dual status as a religious headquarters and as a state with whom we have diplomatic relations, the Government could well have had to defend her from criticism from a foreign state.
Luckily, while Catholic fundamentalists screamed abuse at home, Vatican diplomats kept quiet. It was a close escape from a row that could have haunted the Presidency for years, just as President O'Kelly's accidental triggering of a row between Pope Pius XII and Stalin had repercussions for years afterwards.
Mary McAleese could be described as "Emoter-in-Chief", the nation's chief counsellor, there to speak to and on behalf of the country using language of inclusion, most dramatically her superb live response to 9/11. That will probably be her greatest legacy.
Negatively, her toning down of Robinson's leadership role, and retreating to the more safe public relations officer role, has lost some of the momentum and reversed the constitutional evolution that had been her predecessor's greatest achievement. Overall, the impact of McAleese's Presidency, as spokeswoman rather than leader, can be seen in two facts.
Robinson was regularly compared to other contemporary acclaimed heads of state, Richard von Weizsäcker of Germany and Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic. No such comparisons are made for McAleese.Secondly, while the 1990s will be described by historians as "the Robinson years", turn-of-the-century Ir-eland is unlikely to be described by reference to Mrs McAleese who, like Douglas Hyde, Sean T. O'Kelly and Paddy Hillery, will be seen in a necessary, but supporting, role to the real leaders of Ireland of that period.