"That girl has no hope whatsoever of getting a nomination." Veteran pro-life campaigner and former Fianna Fail fund-raiser Mr Des Hanafin expressed the views of politicians and observers across the political spectrum when he dismissed the candidacy of the former Eurovision star, Mrs Rosemary Scallon, known as Dana.
His views were published in The Irish Times on Monday, August 25th, along with those of other seasoned pro-life and anti-divorce campaigners, including Dr Gerard Casey of the Christian Solidarity Party and Mr Joe McCarroll of the Pro-Life Campaign. They unanimously dismissed her candidacy.
It appeared that the only people supporting her came from the outer fringes of lay Catholic activism. The man claiming credit for her candidacy, Mr T.C.G. O'Mahony, specialises in prayerful processions seeking divine intervention to save Ireland. Dana quickly realised that he was unlikely to deliver much earthly support, and politely distanced herself from him.
When she came to Ireland in the middle of August she described herself as a candidate of "the middle ground", and she made no contact with any lobby group.
However, following the Irish Times article she began to make calls from the US. One of the first people she rang was Dr Casey, apologising for not contacting him before and suggesting a meeting.
Dr Casey is a lecturer in philosophy in UCD. He worked for many years in the United States, and his experience of that hedonistic society marked him deeply. He abandoned 20 years of atheism to re-embrace the Catholic religion, which is the bedrock of his present sophisticated political outlook.
Soft-spoken, articulate and endowed with a shrewd political sense, he garnered 2,000 first-preference votes in the ultra-liberal Dun Laoghaire constituency in the last election.
After Dana's call he arranged a meeting with her for the following week. It lasted over three hours. "She may have spoken to other people as well. I just gave her my advice and did up a little plan. The rest was hers," he told The Irish Times.
Perhaps he is being a little modest. He had examined the Constitution and saw that, apart from being nominated by a political party, there were two other routes.
One was getting the support of 20 members of the Oireachtas which, due to the political affiliation of the majority of its members, would be impossible. The other was being nominated by four county councils. He thought this could just be done, if approached the right way. He advised her to go on the basis, not of seeking an endorsement of her views, but of her democratic right to stand.
She was not going into virgin territory. Over the past year some 60 town, county and municipal councils have supported resolutions calling for a new abortion referendum. This has been promoted primarily by the Pro-Life Campaign, although Dr Casey's organisation has also been involved. But it meant that there were individuals on all these councils open to her views.
At the meeting with Dana, Dr Casey gave her some telephone numbers and dates of council meetings. He also helped her to prepare for her television appearance on Kenny Live. She had drafted a letter for county councillors, which they discussed.
Dr Casey emphasised that he gave his advice in a personal capacity, not on behalf of the Christian Solidarity Party, which has yet to decide on its attitude to her candidacy. "She could have had the county council idea before I spoke to her. There's no one running her campaign except herself," he said.
Rosemary Scallon is rather more reticent about her contact with Dr Casey. "Once it became known I was going forward people from a lot of political backgrounds offered advice. I may have spoken to Dr Casey. I spoke to a great variety of people," she said.
Later she acknowledged that she did have a discussion with him, stressing that she spoke to more people than she could remember.
Another contact was Mrs Susan Phillips. "She is a friend of a very good friend of mine, the Rev Cecil Kerr, who is a great peacemaker," she said. Mrs Phillips was the main force behind her nomination by Wicklow County Council.
She then met the three leaders of the main parties, formally notifying them of her intention to seek a nomination. Crucially, Mr Bertie Ahern said he "would not stand in her way." This meant she could take this statement of neutrality to Fianna Fail councillors and, in the words of Dr Casey, "a councillor with ambitions could support her without fear of retribution."
Of one thing there is no doubt. She and her family worked indefatigably and effectively for her nomination.
"I wrote to each chairman of each county council asking them to put my nomination before the council," she said. "I wrote to each council member laying out my hopes and aspirations. Then I called every chairman and every vice-chairman and as many councillors as I could. I addressed as many councils as I could, when invited to do so."
What surprised everyone, including herself, is how successful this appeal was. Councillors have very little real power, but here was an opportunity to assert themselves against the party establishments. "It was the county councillors telling Dublin 4 to hump off, we're doing what we like," is the opinion of Mr Hanafin.
The matter of her candidacy was due to come before a number of councils last Monday, the usual day for council meetings. Some had arranged special meetings to do so, as a result of her letter.
The first nomination came through from Donegal, where she had the support of Mr Harry Blaney's Independent Fianna Fail. Two of the party's councillors proposed and seconded her. But support came from across the political spectrum, with individual councillors from Fine Gael, Labour and Democratic Left joining Fianna Fail in voting for her nomination. There was a Fine Gael whip not to do so, but Mr Seamus Gill defied it.
In Kerry an independent councillor, Mr P.J. Cronin, proposed her nomination, and it was seconded by another independent. Four independents supported it, including Mr Jackie Healy-Rae TD, and four members of Fianna Fail. There were two votes against and 10 abstentions.
The Wicklow vote took just seven minutes, when the five councillors present supported Mrs Susan Phillips's motion to give Dana a nomination. Another surprise came in Longford, where she was proposed by a Fine Gael councillor, Ms Philo Kelly, and supported by an independent, Mr Peter Murphy, and by Fianna Fail. Tipperary North came next, so that she did not even need the nomination from Cork which was due to be discussed later that night.
The matter is still on the agenda of several county councils, and she hopes to speak to all of them if she can. Above all, she wants to give credit to those councillors who defied party whips to support her.
"Those people showed great courage. Far from being punished, they should be applauded for putting the interests of the country before their personal gain," she said.
Asked to explain her support she says: "It was the people's choice that I got so far. It will be the people's choice if I get to the Presidency. I am an independent. I don't have to conform to any party image or any party policy. We had support from right to left, from every religion and of none. I am now going stomping around the country, directly to the people."