Fianna Fail, Irelands largest party, wednesday chose a little-known Belfast law professor as its candidate for next months presid-ential election, with Mary McAleese joining three other women in the race to succeed Mary Robinson.
The surprise vote by the Fianna Fail parliamentary party followed intense discussions during the weekend as McAleeses supporters sought to block the nomination of Albert Reynolds, the former prime minister and party leader.
She won by 62 to 48, but only after a second ballot, when she appears to have picked up the votes of the other candidate, Michael OKennedy, a former EU commissioner.
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The search for a candidate has caused deep rifts within Fianna Fail but if the party machine can unite behind McAleese, she may yet win the election. Paddy Power, the Dublin bookmaker, still had Adi Roche, a charity worker nominated by Labour, Democratic Left and the Greens, as favourite to win the vote on October 30, ahead of McAleese, Mary Banotti, Fine Gael party candidate and a member of the European parliament, and Dana, the former Eurovision song contest winner.
Labour nominated Robinson in 1990 and Dick Spring, the party leader, may well feel he can again outflank the larger parties with the admired but politically inexperienced Roche.
The decision of all the main parties to choose women is the most striking evidence of the legacy of Robinson, who transformed the presidency from a sinecure for retired, and until now male, former politicians.
The Fianna Fail members who voted against Reynolds appear to have included several members of Bertie Aherns cabinet. Reynolds has been seen as a liability after his involvement in the Irish beef industry and other scandals which could have damaged Fianna Fails campaign.
Once the other parties had opted for women candidates on Tuesday, the case for McAleese appears to have gained ground within the party.
Like Robinson she has been a professor at Dublins Trinity College. She is a conservative Catholic, opposes abortion and represented the Church hierarchy at the New Ireland Forum in the early 1980s.
A strong nationalist, she was brought up in the Ardoyne, one of the toughest republican neighbourhoods in Belfast. She is pro-vice-chancellor of Queens University in Belfast, the highest post ever attained by a Roman Catholic there.
John Murray Brownn Like Robinson she has been a professor at Dublins Trinity College. She is a conservative Catholic, opposes abortion and represented the Church hierarchy at the New Ireland Forum in the early 1980s. A strong nationalist, she was brought up in the Ardoyne, one of the toughest republican neighbourhoods in Belfast.