Four women will contest the presidential election for the first time in the State's history, following the surprising nomination of Prof Mary McAleese. She won a stunning victory of 62 votes to 48 at the Fianna Fail parliamentary party meeting yesterday, defeating former Taoiseach and Fianna Fail leader Mr Albert Reynolds for the party's nomination.
Her entry into the election immediately changes the whole complexion of the campaign since Fine Gael and, particularly, Labour strategists had banked on Mr Reynolds being a weak Fianna Fail candidate.
After a flurry of confusing activity over the past two days, Prof McAleese received the support of most Ministers and Ministers of State in what clearly developed into an "Anyone but Albert" campaign. Three members of the Cabinet - Mr Charlie McCreevy, Mr David Andrews and Mr Brian Cowen - are believed to have voted for Mr Reynolds.
All three contenders - Mr Reynolds, Ms McAleese and former minister Mr Michael O'Kennedy - endorsed a new procedure that they would present themselves, without a proposer or seconder, at the start of yesterday's meeting.
Mr Reynolds received 49 votes, Ms McAleese 42 and Mr O'Kennedy 21 votes in the first ballot. Mr O'Kennedy was eliminated before the second ballot commenced. Ms McAleese then won a surprising 62 votes to 48 votes for Mr Reynolds, benefiting from all but one of Mr O'Kennedy's voters.
The Taoiseach and Fianna Fail leader, Mr Ahern, conceded that "there was some surprise in the room" at the outcome. But neither he nor some of his senior colleagues were stunned.
Most members were mesmerised by the extent of Prof McAleese's victory. Sources at the meeting said that "a few people were left with their mouths wide open" when the result was announced.
Flanked by a visibly shaken Mr Reynolds and members of the Cabinet as she launched her campaign shortly afterwards, Prof McAleese said that she had been 10 years away from party politics but Fianna Fail was her natural political home. She had come to Fianna Fail with a dream for the Presidency which, she thought, the party would recognise as its own.
At its simplest, it offered a candidate with the critical mix of legal wisdom and caring "outreach" skills so essential to the highest office, she stated.
After his resounding defeat, Mr Reynolds ruled out seeking a nomination from four county councils, the procedure successfully pursued by the singer Dana (Mrs Rosemary Scallon) for the first time. It is understood that he plans to retire at the next general election.
Fianna Fail's Coalition partners, the Progressive Democrats, openly admitted that they were "taken aback" by yesterday's developments. They had "a fairly straightforward line" prepared to oppose Mr Reynolds in the forthcoming election.
Their parliamentary party will meet this afternoon and their national council on Saturday, to decide whether they will support one of the four candidates now declared for the Presidency.
Dismissing recent criticism of the "neutral stance" adopted by the Taoiseach in the campaign for the Fianna Fail nomination, some of Mr Ahern's closest supporters openly professed that he really was, as Mr Charles Haughey said, "the most devious, the most cunning and the most ruthless of them all."
Some Fianna Fail sources were fearful last night that the defeat of Mr Reynolds could open up old divisive sores in the party.
