Doubt has been cast on the validity of the nomination of Dana (Mrs Rosemary Scallon) as a presidential candidate. Two of the five county councils which awarded the nomination have been advised that their motions may not be in accordance with the Presidential Elections Act, 1993.
Donegal, Wicklow, Longford, Kerry and Tipperary North Riding County Councils made history earlier this week by deciding to grant Dana the nomination. Twenty members of the Oireachtas or four county councils are entitled to nominate a candidate for the Presidency.
The county secretary of Tipperary North Riding council, Mr Risteard O Domhnaill, confirmed to The Irish Times yesterday that minimum statutory notice of intention to nominate Dana was not given.
The 1993 Act requires that notice be given, in writing, to county council members at least three days before the meeting. Instead, support for Dana's nomination was taken after a verbal proposal at a monthly council meeting by Mr Joseph O'Connor (Independent).
Mr O Domhnaill said the council would meet again on Monday to consider the proposal a second time.
Mr Bryan Doyle, county secretary of Wicklow County Council, said he had advised members that there may be a doubt about their nomination because they did not name Dana in the motion. This advice was later confirmed by their law agent.
The 1993 Act also provides that a county council may, by resolution, resolve to nominate "one named person" to be a candidate at a presidential election.
Ms Susan Phillips, who proposed Dana at a special meeting last Monday, has now been advised that the council's nomination may be open to challenge.
Her resolution said: "In the interest of democracy, we request a special meeting in which to discuss, and if necessary propose, the nomination of a non-party person to stand in the forthcoming presidential election".
Mr Doyle told The Irish Times that no moves had been made yet to reconvene a meeting for the purposes of nominating Dana.
A special meeting of Clare County Council yesterday decided to exercise its powers in relation to considering the nomination of candidate for the Presidency.
The council chairman, Mr P.J. Kelly, told The Irish Times last night that the singer's name was not mentioned, as each member needed three days' notice in writing of the name of the person to be proposed.
A specific motion to propose her was not on the agenda. "We agreed to exercise our power should the occasion arise, and the road is now open for considering nominations".
Dana addressed the council at its normal monthly meeting last week.
Speaking in Galway yesterday, Dana said she will disclose details of her campaign funding if other candidates do likewise. She said her campaign to date had been funded entirely by herself and her family.