Moves to establish a voting pact between the anti-nuclear campaigner, Ms Adi Roche, and the Fine Gael candidate, Ms Mary Banotti - and possibly Mr Derek Nally - are expected to be made by presidential election strategists.
Following yesterday's Irish Times/MRBI opinion poll showing Prof Mary McAleese as the clear favourite to win the election on October 30th, sources in the Labour Party said that, pending discussions with the other candidates, a voting arrangement could be put in place shortly before polling day.
A voting pact was put in place the weekend before polling in 1990 between Mrs Mary Robinson and the Fine Gael candidate, Mr Austin Currie.
Speaking at a press conference at the launch of her election campaign in Dublin yesterday, Ms Roche hinted that such an arrangement might be on the cards again, adding that it would be unfair to say more until the relevant people had been consulted.
However, sources close to the Roche campaign said last night that such a pact provided the best chance of thwarting the Fianna Fail/PD candidate, Prof McAleese, who currently has a first preference vote of 35 per cent. A Fine Gael spokesman said a voting arrangement "is not currently under consideration". Reacting to the poll, which showed she had been damaged by the early controversy surrounding her campaign, Ms Roche said she was "quite relieved" at the latest findings. It might seem strange that this was the case but an earlier poll showing she was a front-runner was not a true picture, since all the candidates were not declared and the campaign was not in full swing.
"I do not think it would be good to be the front-runner for a six-week period because it would be very difficult to maintain that position," she said.
However, her support among young voters was very positive and she now had to convince their parents to support her, Ms Roche said.
Outlining her plans for the Presidency, she said she was not prepared to "take no for an answer" if the Government did not favour her plans to host a "global summit" in Ireland of peacemakers and humanitarians in 1999.
The Labour Party leader, Mr Dick Spring, said Ms Roche had to handle "personal abuse on a scale unprecedented in my experience, ranging from criticisms of her personal management style to attacks by pro-nuclear scientists on her position on nuclear power. "It took some days for this campaign of personal begrudgery, and totally subjective commentary, to be seen for what it was," Mr Spring added.
Describing neutrality as a strong cornerstone of Irish foreign policy, Ms Roche said she was "personally opposed to Partnerships for Peace". But this did not mean she would engage in discussion around this if she was elected President.
"I recognise that one's personal opinions, if you are President of Ireland, just do not matter," she added. Mr Richard Moore from Derry, director of the Children in Crossfire group, who chaired yesterday's launch, said he had been blinded at the age of 10 but that Ms Roche had given him a vision. Mr Moore was blinded by a rubber bullet in Northern Ireland.
The Democratic Left leader, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, said Adi Roche was not the property of his party or any other. She was the candidate of the "people's alliance", a coalition of interests including political parties, environmental groups, humanitarian bodies, community organisations and others acting in a spirit of co-operation.
Green Party TD Mr Trevor Sargent said Ms Roche was so remarkable because she was still "so fresh, so committed and so close to the causes and people who knew her before she achieved so much".