It may be more plámás than power, but the Presidency is still important

Certainly, in the two decades since the two Marys took up the office, the chief significance of the Presidency has come to be seen much more explicitly in terms of the ways in which our Head of State embodies, represents and reflects core values that we want associated with Ireland.

And in this respect we can see some progress

SO, who wants to talk about the Presidency then? Well so far, not too many people, and that even includes the potential candidates. Watching the RTÉ frontline programme on Monday evening, where four out of a suggested 10 people interested in the job turned up to talk and answer questions, it was hard to detect a sense of enthusiasm for all the “new politics” and political reform that was being talked about in the general election only a couple of months ago.