In 1988, I was part of a three-man Fianna Fail delegation that secretly met some of the Sinn Fein leadership in the Redemptorist House in Dundalk, at the invitation of Father Alex Reid, in parallel with the more public dialogue between the SDLP and Sinn Fein that year.We were there to persuade them, in my own words at that meeting, that "violence is a bad scene" and that a peaceful democratic alternative must be more seriously considered. It took some years before that initiative bore fruit. I was conscious of the risks of being misrepresented by those who would say it wa wrong to talk to Sinn Fein until the IRA had given up violence.In recent times, the Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, advised loyalists during the renewed IRA campaign of 1996-97 not to retaliate. We quietly applauded him for that. The UUP and the small loyalist parties are in the talks togethe, with some informal co-operation between them.

Again we see nothing wrong with that, despite the past.That some Southern commentators have been working with the Ulster Unionist Party, the Orange Order, the PUP and, in one case, joined the UKUP delegation at the talks, is maybe a good development. But, please, do no call crossing to the other side an exercise in bridge-building when its aim, if anything, is to prevent an accommodation or an honourable retreat from political violence.These people, together with the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, have gone to extraodinary lengths to try to prevent Mary McAleese from becoming President of Ireland. Bipartisanship and the trust that needs to be built up has been cast to the winds.Mr Bruton has destroyed any remaining confidence that Northern nationalists might have in him with potentially disastrous effects for the future if he were to become Taoiseach again. His refusal to treat Sinn Fein like any other party once there is a ceasefire undermines the basic premise of the peace process. Mary McAleese could prove embarrassing to him.It is clear that Mary McAleese is a person of strong moral convictions. As the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Eames, has said, it should not be held against anyone that they act out of Christian belief. It is a slander to suggest that those who were horrified by the IRA's return to violence and who worked with the Redemptorist Peace Mission to have peace restored were ambivalent about violence.Everyone invovled understood that any future political co-operation between the SDLP and Sinn Fein depended on the IRA ceasefire first and I know that for a fact.People such as Mary McAleese, who worked behind the scenes to exhort others to travel the constitutional route, could have done nothing; they chose to take risks for peace; not for them the comfort of armchair comment or dinner-party chatter.Mary McAleese is a peson from a nationalist background who has worked in a leading capacity in the institutions of Northern Ireland necessitating day to day working and co-operation with people of different religious and political backgrounds. Before she stood for the Presidency she was not particularly controversial. She has beeen a forthright champion of civil rights, equalituy and parity of esteem. She has the quality of civic courage, not afraid to take on the powers that be in either church or state. She is intelligent, articulate and, above all, interesting.She is a woman who attracts attention. The fact that as pro-vice chancellor of Queen's University Belfast she met Queen Elizabeth, and had lunch with her, shows she will be well able to represent Ireland and that accusations of tribal nationalism are wide of the mark. No one expects the queen to be other than a supporter of the Union. Why should we want our President to be neutral on the value of independent Ireland embracing all traditions, Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter?Michael Collins in 1922 was incensed by the treatment of Northern Catholics as second-class citizens. No one should be surprised at this stage that John Bruton does not identify with the heritage of Michael Collins. But it is somewhat surprising that those who aspire to that heritage now look down on Mary McAleese as a second-class candidate because she is from the North.This election will show is we really are a tolerant pluralist and inclusive society as we claim. It is an irony that those who talk about pluralism most sometimes practise it the least. I believe the election of Mary McAleese will send a positive signal to both communities in Northern Ireland that we welcome their participation in our society.While we have other worthy candidates in this election who have done excellent work in their own fields, we have one outstanding candidate.The election of Mary McAleese will represent a step forward for our nation and a further boost to pride and confidence. She has all the qualifications and the integrity to be an inspiring President.