Dana touched down in Ireland yesterday to promote her presidential candidacy with the pledge that she is "absolutely serious" about it. The 44-year-old Derry-born singer - real name Rosemary Brown - arrived at Dublin Airport from the US with her husband, Mr Damien Scallon, for a publicity blitz.
The former Eurovision Song Contest winner, who has lived in the US for seven years, is joining the presidential race on an antiabortion ticket with the backing of traditional Catholic groups.
She said she was not disheartened by the fact that her candidacy was viewed by many people as lacking seriousness.
"I can understand that," she said.
"They have never seen me in this light before. I think people do know in their hearts that nobody is one-dimensional. I have as much a right as anyone else in this country to run for this position."
Dana said she would "stand up" for what she believed was right and would uphold the Constitution on behalf of the people.
She arrived yesterday from her home in Birmingham, Alabama, via Paris. Her four children have not accompanied her on the trip.
She will be conducting media interviews from a Dublin hotel over the next few days before travelling to her native Derry for the weekend.
A spokeswoman for Dana said she would meet the supporters of her presidential bid but would not begin canvassing for a nomination until later in the summer.
Dana's mother, Mrs Sheila Brown, and her brother, Mr John Brown, travelled from Derry to Dublin yesterday.
Dana won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1970 with All Kinds of Everything. She moved to Alabama, the heart of the American Bible Belt, in 1990. She currently presents a chat show, Mother Angelica, on a Catholic cable channel.
She is due to leave for Paris next Monday for concerts on August 19th, 20th and 22nd at the St Jean de Montmartre, by invitation of the Vatican and as part of the run-up to the Pope's visit there. She will then return to Ireland.
Hundreds of pilgrims travelled to Knock in Co Mayo last Monday as part of a prayer crusade to try to get Dana elected.