Dana reaction: Former MEP Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon has accused the major political parties of "stamping" on her efforts to win a presidential election nomination.
Despite not having the necessary Oireachtas or local authority nominations, Ms Scallon, accompanied by her husband, Damien, turned up at the Custom House ceremony.
"We have been stamped on by the political establishment. I know the President herself would have welcomed an election," she told The Irish Times.
She said she had asked the president of the High Court, Mr Justice Finnegan, if the President could have "voluntarily" resigned before her term of office ended at midnight on November 10th.
This would have given a 60-day period in which an election could have been held: "I did not receive an answer to that question.
"The presidency would have really flourished with a mandate from the people. It should never slip back to being a mandate from the political parties," she declared.
The big parties did not want a debate on the major issues facing the country, including the gaps between those who benefited from the Celtic Tiger, and those who did not.
In addition, an election would have allowed for a debate about the European Union Constitution "and its claims of primacy over the Irish Constitution".
Heavily critical of Fine Gael leader Mr Enda Kenny for banning his councillors from supporting her, Ms Scallon said: "No party has the right to stamp on the constitutional right of a councillor."
Her attempts to win an election nomination were not "a reflection" upon the President.
"I don't feel anger. I do feel a sense of disappointment that the might of the political establishment was put against those people who were trying desperately to keep the Constitution alive."
