At the end of what she called "the most terrifying day of my life", Ms Adi Roche last night attended a rehearsal in Dublin for a concert to benefit the charity she founded, the Chernobyl Children's Project. Accompanied by Ms Ali Hewson, one of the highest profile supporters of the project and the wife of the U2 lead singer, Bono, Ms Roche told the performers the concert would benefit those who suffered in "the greatest environmental catastrophe in the history of mankind".
A group of Belarussian children will be among the performers at the concert in the National Concert hall on October 7th. These children were coming to Ireland "not as victims but to share their culture and their youth", said Ms Roche.
The concert, which will also feature the National Chamber Choir and the RTE Children's Choir, is supported by the management and staff of AIB Finance and Leasing.
Ms Hewson told reporters that Ms Roche's candidacy for the Presidency would give a major boost to the Chernobyl Children's Project.
"Having had to fight to be heard she will be able to go back to Belarus as President and meet the President of Belarus as President of Ireland."
An enthusiastic supporter of Ms Roche's presidential campaign, Ms Hewson said: "Mary Robinson set a standard and Adi will be able to carry on that work and bring the Presidency into the new millennium."
She said Ms Roche did not have Mrs Robinson's legal background but "she has more experience than most politicians. She has worked with politicians at home and abroad, she understands politics at ground level even though she is non-political".
Asked how she would be different from Mrs Robinson, Ms Hewson said Ms Roche would be "maybe more personal than Mary Robinson, more easy to identify with. She has great humility yet an incredible sense of commitment. She has the same humanitarian beliefs and commitment to equality".