"Isn't Dana a great ambassador for Derry?" says Teresa Kelly from the Bogside. "She put us on the map when she won the Eurovision in 1970 and she has done us proud again." Mrs Kelly thinks that Dana has brought a "breath of fresh air" to Irish politics. "She is very downto-earth and friendly. There are so many politicians who don't have time for people any more. They just shake your hand to get your vote but they don't care.
"Dana is 100 per cent genuine. She is a lovely girl. I hope she stays here and doesn't go back to America. We don't want to lose her."
Gerry Doherty says the media gave her "a wild hard time" but Dana proved her mettle. "She didn't give up. She stood her ground and argued her case. She isn't a Derry woman for nothing."
He encouraged her to stay in politics. "She could run for the Dail or the council or something. If she needs a hand, she should give me a ring. I'd be only to happy to help."
The former civil rights leader, Eamonn McCann, was not offering to canvass but he believed that Dana could well take the third seat in Connacht-Ulster in the European elections in 1999.
"She polled strongly in Donegal, so there is obviously a constituency there for her. I would have voted for Adi Roche myself but I know Dana and I certainly didn't want to see her humiliated at the polls. She carried herself well."
However, Fionbarra O Dochartaigh, questioned Dana's sudden interest in politics. "She is an old neighbour of mine from the Bogside and her family were never involved in the civil rights movement or any social campaign.
"I admired her as a singer and by winning the Eurovision she brought Derry into the international spotlight just as much as events on the streets did.
"She became a star, she had a world platform, but she never spoke out on Bloody Sunday or internment. . . Dana failed to stand by the people of the Bogside when they needed her."
Mary McLaughlin did not think that Dana had betrayed her roots. "She wouldn't have felt comfortable with all the trouble that went on in the 70s. She isn't that sort of girl. She is far too gentle.
"I'm delighted with her election performance."
Joe Quigley said that Dana belonged to another era. "Saying that God is the basis of the State is like believing in the Divine Right of Kings. It's a throwback to feudalism." Her campaign was "totally irrelevant" and did not address issues like poverty, homelessness, and drugs, he said.
He would not have supported any of the candidates, although he believed that Northerners should have had a vote.
Biddy Semple strongly opposed Dana's moral agenda and said she was not representative of Derry where "many people support divorce and the right to choose on abortion". She thought the Eurovision winner was a political lightweight.
"It was a joke having Dana from Derry standing for the Presidency. She was a cartoon character. She should stick to singing."