As her industrious campaign workers folded leaflets and licked envelopes yesterday morning, presidential candidate, Adi Roche, kept an urgent appointment in Cyberspace. "This is fantastic, I could do this all day," said Ms Roche, who was participating in a live question-and-answer session on the presidential election website of The Irish Times on the Web (http:// www.irish-times.com), part of a series of Internet interviews with the candidates.
Ms Roche arrived 25 minutes late for the session, which was due to begin at 11.30 a.m. at her election headquarters in Camden Street, Dublin. When one participant, Caitriona Diviney, asked how the recent "slagging match" had affected her campaign, Ms Roche noted that the questioner was corresponding from "the Netherlands, begod".
It had been a very difficult time personally, she said, but she had been very moved by the reaction of the general public.
"There was a quiet revolution all around the country as people were genuinely shocked at the scale of the attacks," she said.
Keith Mills asked if Ms Roche would engage in a vote transfer deal with "a candidate who had derided her view of the role of the Presidency".
"It is not an issue in our campaign at the moment ," Ms Roche said. "However, we will review the situation closer to the election date. I have obvious personal preferences for some candidates more than others . . . so let's wait and see."
It was Gandhi's birthday yesterday and the People's Alliance candidate was pleased to answer a question about her pacifist views and whether they might clash with the President's position as head of the armed forces.
"Yes, I am a pacifist and follow the teachings of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. I would see no problem in being head of the armed forces as I have had a very full relationship with the forces through my work," she said.
She was delighted when Leslie Williams asked whether her recently proposed Children's Commission would be solely confined to interest and lobby groups.
Ms Roche replied that she had every intention of ensuring that the commission would be as "broad-based and expert as possible".
Her husband, Mr Sean Dunne, was elsewhere, fielding telephone calls, when Mr Joe Stuart inquired about his role if Ms Roche was elected. Would he continue teaching in Cork; teach in Dublin; become a house husband or none of the above, he asked.
The issue as to what Sean would do had been a major factor in her decision to stand for the Presidency, Ms Roche said. an And he would fit into none of Joe's suggestions. "[Sean] intends immersing himself fully in supporting my Presidency."