ABSTRACT
The manner of Mary Robinson's election victory in 1990 and her redefinition of what it meant to be president ensured that the contest would be one fought in her shadow. It was suggested that the 1997 presidential election result was perceived in some quarters as a reversal of 1990 in that in 1997, the conservatives defeated the liberals. In 1990 and 1997 first Labour and then Fine Gael voters rowed in heavily behind their candidate, but in neither case did both sets of voters do so. This is not to say that presidential elections are not candidate centred. The very fact that parties sought candidates who were at least semidetached from their party indicates a perceived importance of candidate on the part of selectors, and indeed no Fine Gael or Labour candidate could win without a very extensive appeal outside the party.
