The Green Party's National Council should have endorsed Mr Eamon Ryan's bid to seek a presidential election nomination before the announcement was made yesterday.
Believing that the information was about to leak out, the party's press office was forced hurriedly to release a press statement to RTÉ Radio 1's News at One.
Mr Ryan's desire to seek an election nomination is supported by some senior Green figures, though others doubt if it is the best electoral strategy to follow.
However, there is some fear that the lack of consultation with rank-and-file members - even though it was not deliberate - could irritate ordinary members.
Explaining the situation last night, a Green Party spokesman said they had believed that an Independent TD was about to reveal Mr Ryan's name. "If that happened we would have had no control at all over the way it was announced, so it was decided to do it the way we did it."
The sequence of events leading up to yesterday's announcement is likely to dominate today's meeting of the Green Party Parliamentary Party. In particular, some individuals may want to know how the party press officer came to be convinced that the information was set to leak.
Dublin North Central Independent TD, Mr Finian McGrath, was one of those who had been contacted last week by Mr Ryan as he prepared his challenge. Mr McGrath did appear on the radio news programme yesterday, as agreed from early yesterday morning, though there is no evidence to suggest he intended to identify Mr Ryan.
The campaign does create difficulties for the hopes of a possible Rainbow alliance, since Mr Ryan is currently seeking nomination signatures from smaller parties and Independents rather than from Fine Gael and Labour. In addition, the timing of the announcement before the Labour Party has made its final decision on the presidential race now puts pressure on that party to contest the election.
Given the lack of support evident for him from Independents last night, Mr Ryan may end up depending on Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon securing four local authority nominations. If she does so, Mr Ryan could attract support from independent Oireachtas members not wanting to see a contest just between Mrs McAleese and Ms Scallon.
If Labour decides not to contest the election, both Labour and Fine Gael could be asked to support Mr Ryan's bid for a nomination. However, Fine Gael has consistently said that it does not want an election and that President McAleese had performed creditably over the last seven years.
In addition, there is still some bad blood between the Greens and Labour over the Green Party's contribution to the Labour-run Adi Roche campaign in 1997.
Supporting Mr Ryan's entry into the race, Cork South Central TD and party colleague Mr Dan Boyle said: "The announcement was slightly previous, but factual."
The issue was discussed during a two-day meeting held by the Green Party Parliamentary Party at an organic farm in Co Laois a fortnight ago. The matter was also discussed last weekend by the party's 16-strong National Executive Council.It will be discussed again at two further parliamentary party meetings today and tomorrow, before going before going before the National Council in Clonakilty on Saturday.
Saying he believed that Mr Ryan would do well in an election, Mr Boyle said: "We never shy away from elections even when there is no likelihood of winning."
