The campaign to elect the ninth President of Ireland has commenced with the decision by Mrs Mary McAleese to nominate herself for a second term of office yesterday. The most open secret of the political year is out. She is, so far, the only person nominated.
Some seven years after "the first President from Ulster" won the biggest presidential victory in the history of the State, she is shaping up for what could be an even more unequal contest this time, if there is to be any contest at all.
President McAleese will remember a highly politicised campaign marked by bitterness, rancour and vilification in 1997 and she is taking nothing for granted on this occasion. At a considered campaign launch, she stated that she would welcome an election to the highest position of Head of State and made it clear, once if not twice during her press conference, that she had no say whatsoever whether a candidate or candidates would oppose her. It still remains unclear, at this writing, whether the Labour Party will nominate a party candidate, though that is thought unlikely.
Mr Eamon Ryan, the Green Party TD, with the backing of his parliamentary party, is seeking the backing of 20 members of the Oireachtas to win a nomination. And Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon, the Independent MEP who lost her seat in the European elections, is facing difficulty getting the required support of four county councils in order to ensure her candidature in a presidential contest.
There is no doubt that the outgoing President, Mrs McAleese, has increased her stature and popularity going into this election. There is no real contest. There are those voters who held sincere reservations about her capacity to follow in the footsteps of her predecessor, Mrs Mary Robinson, seven years ago who would have to concede that she has done a good, but different, job. She consolidated the change. She represented the Office of President and the people of Ireland with distinction at home and national pride abroad.
For all of that, elections are the life-blood of democracy. They bring a legitimacy all of their own. They energise a candidate to renew a mandate from voters. In a presidential election, a contest would force the electorate to engage in an open debate about how a changing Ireland sees herself today. That debate is long overdue, bigger than any individual winner or loser.
It is premature, however, to say whether there will be a contest. As before, Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats support President McAleese. The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, has stuck to his position and is supporting her as an independent candidate. Apparently, Fine Gael will join her campaign team. The Green Party dropped a candidate, unannounced, on its own members and on its prospective rainbow partners. The Labour Party is divided. The leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, is caught between his devil, Mr Michael D. Higgins, and the deep green sea of Mr Ryan. The Labour Party will decide whether there is a contest.