Our President must be ready to take up the role of Irish first citizen

THE office of President of Ireland is invested with great moral authority. Unusually, our President is directly elected by the people, except where political parties agree a candidate.

One of the achievements of Irish democracy to date is that the moral authority of the presidency has been maintained by all eight incumbents, in one case by resignation, and even enhanced, especially by Presidents Mary McAleese, Mary Robinson and Patrick Hillery.

The same could not be said of many other institutions or political offices. What is behind the searching scrutiny of each candidate is the desire to sustain the high standards expected of the future President.