An Occasional Column

There was a great sense of being bathed in this wonderful rainbow from all over the country.

There was a great sense of being bathed in this wonderful rainbow from all over the country.

- Adi Roche in Clonmel on the support she got in the face of allegations about her by disaffected former colleagues.

I am a strong advocate of the stories of Martin Luther King and Ghandi. . .

- Adi Roche on Today with Pat Kenny

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I have a dream for the eighth Presidency of Ireland.

- Mary McAleese at the launch of her campaign

There are fault lines in our country - some big, some small, some new, some centuries old. Many fissures in our society remain to be bridged . . . This Presidency will run from 1977 to the year 2004 and it will be a bridge between this millennium and the next. The eighth Presidency will be a bridge to the future which lies in front of us all . . . My dream is for a Presidency which will capture and hold in its embrace this large, colourful family which is the Irish people . . . Many people ask why I use words like embrace, love and hope about the Presidency . . . I make no apology for using such words. Ireland needs them. Our children need them. I am offering the tapestry of my life and a vision for the Presidency. . .

- Extracted from Mary McAleese's nomination speech

I am going to have [Aras an Uachtarain] as a place of music and sound, particularly the sound of children . . . I have lots of different ideas about the inclusiveness of children from all over Ireland and perhaps from other parts of the world too.

- Adi Roche

While ideally, personal development takes place within a realistic and logical game-plan, participants in any contest can, at best, hope to bring past growth to the day-to-day battle . . . At this stage, I can say with confidence that Adi Roche is a Helper (under pressure takes on the negative qualities of the Leader); Mary McAleese is a Status Seeker; and Dana is a Loyalist.

- Eamon Kelly of Game-Plan in a letter to journalists with his personal assessment of the candidates to date.