The easy part is over where Mrs Mary McAleese is concerned. Getting elected was a relatively simple process compared with the delicate task of negotiating the political landscape that now lies before her.
The President-elect must not only satisfy the expectations of a pluralist Southern electorate, as a worthy successor of Mrs Mary Robinson, but Northern Catholics will seek special recognition from her within a new, embracing agenda.
How Mrs McAleese approaches these immediate tasks will set the seal on her Presidency for the next seven years.
With her election, the centre of gravity within Irish public life has certainly shifted towards the conservative end of the spectrum. But the articulation of that reality, and her Northern linkages, may provide either a creative or a polarising environment.
At the moment, the betting in political circles is that Mrs McAleese will take a leaf out of Mrs Robinson's book and put clear blue water between herself and party politics.
For evidence they point to her election campaign, when she declared on a number of occasions that she was not a member of any political party, in spite of being nominated by Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats.
A chilly distance between the President and Fianna Fail would come as a culture shock to those TDs and senators wishing - as in times past - to claim the President as their own. But if she is to repeat the satisfaction ratings of Mrs Robinson and reflect the cross-party support she attracted, Mrs McAleese will have to bite the bullet.
The very fact that she was elected may be considered sufficient reward for Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats. Picking a winner is always good for party morale.
And if that winner can generate a broader, post-election appeal, so much the better, especially in the context of negotiations on a threestranded political settlement within these islands.
Had she lost, Bertie Ahern would have been in dire trouble. The remnants of the Albert Reynolds camp and sundry sore-heads would have agitated fiercely within Fianna Fail over the "shafting" of the former Taoiseach and the surprise nomination of Mrs McAleese.
Mr Ahern's judgment and leadership would have been called into question, and the stability of the Government itself could have been damaged.
Ms Mary Harney would also have come under immediate attack from Mr Michael McDowell and other dissident elements who object to the symbiotic relationship developing between Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats.
But it did not happen like that. Mrs McAleese has enjoyed an electoral triumph, and the nominating parties are basking in the reflected glow of her success.
The positive vibrations may help the Coalition to disguise its uncertain start and present itself as a Government in control.
It will be helped by the focus of critical attention swinging now to Mr Dick Spring and Mr John Bruton. The opposition parties are in deep trouble, and none more so than Labour.
With electoral support in double figures, the Labour Party would have expected a high-profile candidate like Ms Roche at least to match the party vote. In addition, there was her endorsement by Democratic Left and the Green Party.
But from the second week of the campaign, after being denounced by former associates, she was dead in the water. A succession of appeals by Mr Spring for the party to rally behind her fell on deaf ears. And she was finally, and humiliatingly, overtaken by Dana.
Coming on top of a disastrous general election, the result will fuel criticism of Mr Spring. But even the most vociferous of his detractors have little appetite for open confrontation. A leadership challenge is considered unlikely in the short term.
The competent performance of Mary Banotti will deflect the worst of the storm away from John Bruton. But he has been damaged by Fianna Fail's assertion that he was involved in "dirty tricks" against Mrs McAleese.
In that regard, the arrest of a Fine Gael activist and Mr Bruton's association with Mr Eoghan Harris increased public suspicion.
Like Mr Spring, however, the Fine Gael leader is unlikely to face an early challenge to his authority, not while the possibility of an early general election looms on the horizon.
In politics, only winners are cherished. And Mrs McAleese now has an opportunity to reinvent herself in the style, if not the substance, of a Robinson presidency.
As a figurehead for the Republic, she can be expected to pursue an extremely high profile on the international stage, both in terms of normal commercial diplomacy and humanitarian concerns.
Mrs McAleese is certain to adopt a cautious approach to altering a formula which proved to be so successful for Mrs Robinson. But the expectations of her Northern co-religionists cannot be ignored.
In mid-campaign, as leaked documents from the Department of Foreign Affairs cast doubts on her relationship with Sinn Fein and as Gerry Adams offered his support, the Belfast Irish News conducted a presidential phonein.
Mrs McAleese took over 80 per cent of the vote, with about 10 per cent for Dana. Nationalists and republicans desperately wanted a Northern representative in Aras an Uachtarain to assert their identity as an integral part of a sundered tribe.
That groundswell of support for Mrs McAleese at the height of what was seen as a "dirty tricks" campaign - allied to the intervention of Lord Alderdice - led Mr John Hume, Mr Seamus Mallon and Mrs Brid Rodgers to issue statements of clarification which were crudely represented in the media as political endorsements.
Safe in the reluctant embrace of the SDLP, Mrs McAleese floated clear of the controversy. Her nationalism became an asset. Her campaign gathered momentum.
Now that she has been elected, she has to decide just how she will reflect that Northern support. The Coalition parties, especially the Progressive Democrats, will be anxious to ensure that in responding to Northern nationalist aspirations no offence is given to unionists.
Without any direct intervention, however, Mrs McAleese is well placed to make a positive contribution to the peace process. As a potent symbol for Northern nationalists at the heart of the Southern state, her commitment to democracy and her rejection of political violence should underpin the peace process.
And, in the context of a threestranded settlement, her presence in the Park could give real, vibrant and non-threatening expression to an evolution in NorthSouth relations.