MRS Maire Geoghegan Quinn said last night that at present she was not interested in running for the Presidency.
However, she told Teilifis na Gaeilge that if any party leader said that your country needs you" to run, it would be difficult to refuse. She added that it was much too soon for anyone to show an interest in running. She was speaking on the Cead Cainte programme.
Senator Edward Kennedy has said he was "very sorry to learn that President Robinson will not be a candidate for President". He described her as "an outstanding President for the people of Ireland". He wished her well and said: "I look forward to continuing to work with her in whatever public or private enterprise she next pursues."
Mrs Robinson's father, Dr Aubrey Devere Bourke (82) said at his home in Ballina last night he was proud of his daughter's achievements and would like to see her getting an international "post to eliminate poverty and injustices. He said she was absolutely wrapped up in international human rights and he would like to see her in a position where she could exercise her undoubted skills.
"She has made an enormous significance as President and has done Ireland proud. As a young person when she started seven years ago, she brought a breath of fresh air to people looking at Ireland the world over," he said.
The Minister of State for Development Co operation, Ms Joan Burton, said Mrs Robinson had "consistently highlighted Third World issues during her Presidency". The President's role, she said, had directly contributed towards "Ireland's high standing in the world". "I went with her on some of her visits, notably to Rwanda, and can testify directly to the esteem in which she is held and the huge morale boost her interest gives to Irish development workers on the ground," she said.
The National Youth Council of Ireland said Mrs Robinson had been a President for "young people". "Half of Ireland's population is under the age of 28 and Mary Robinson has listened to the youth of this country like no President before her," a statement said.
Tributes were paid to Mrs Robinson in her native Ballina yesterday. The chairman of the Urban Council, Mr Pat Diamond, who worked for Mrs Robinson in her election campaign, said she "never forgot Ballina in her international travels and would be remembered for her great humanitarian concern, especially in the Third World".
The Church of Ireland Bishop of Tuam, Killala, and Achonry, the Right Rev John Neill, emphasised the importance which the President placed on the marginalised and the weakest members of society and her encouragement to those working for them.
The chairman of the Labour Party, Mr Jim Kemmy TD, said he was "very disappointed" to hear of the decision by the President not to go forward for a second term. "She was an outstanding President and she made a major contribution to modernising Irish society. She was a living symbol of the confidence and intelligence of the Irish people," he said.
Bishop Thomas Flynn, a spokesman for the Catholic Hierarchy, said Mrs Robinson had done "a good job for Ireland as President" and he wished her blessings in whatever role she took up next.
The National Women's Council said the President had made "a unique and extraordinary contribution to the office of President". The council's chairwoman said Mrs Robinson had reached people who previously had been "relegated to the margins of society".