Presidential candidate, Mr Derek Nally said during last night's RTE Late Late Show debate that he had accepted "some time ago" the assurance given by Prof Mary McAleese's that she was not close to Sinn Fein. He had had "more than a disagreement" with Mr John Caden, his then publicity director, and Mr Eoghan Harris about his acceptance of this.
Mr Nally said he had hired Mr Caden after he rang him and told him he was "free at the moment. The other gentleman [Mr Harris] wasn't involved at all until suddenly I got a three-page memorandum from him telling me he was going to vote for me". He now regretted the whole thing.
Mr Nally's comments came after Mr Gay Byrne asked the candidates if they had any problem with the idea that if Mr Gerry Adams had a vote in the election, he would give his first preference to Prof McAleese.
Ms Adi Roche said no, it was Mr Adams's individual right to have an opinion as a human being and we lived in a democratic world. Ms Mary Banotti also said no, but she believed it wasn't particularly helpful for any of the candidates to be endorsed by one or other of the communities in Northern Ireland.
"I do think that if the President has to reach out to both communities in the North it would be better, and I would prefer for example, not to be endorsed by either one side or the other in Northern Ireland."
Mr Nally said he had no problem with anybody deciding who they were going to vote for. He was worried, however, that Mr Adams had said he was going to allow his people in the Republic a free vote. "I never knew that any political party controlled their people in relation to a free vote."
Dana (Ms Rosemary Scallon) said it was a great shame that the campaign was turning into a political football. There should not be "in-party bickering like this".
Asked if what Mr Adams had said was a help or a hindrance to her, Prof McAleese said she had no particular view about it. "I think in a democracy we allow people to speak freely. I'm just a little bit taken aback that so many people would have preferred had he not spoken freely."
Asked by Mr Byrne about her claims of having unionist support, and particularly in the light of Mr Chris McGimpsey's denial of such support on RTE's News At One on Thursday, Prof McAleese said Mr McGimpsey's reaction was predictable "given the Eoghan Harris business".
She was "very heartened" about the support she had received from within the unionist community, she said. The support she had received was from within the spectrum of unionism, in the form of mail etc. Some were from within Queen's University and some were not. All her childhood friends were unionist, she said, as her family lived among unionists after they had been burned out.
Asked whether she would have problems, as President, signing legislation admitting Ireland to NATO, Ms Roche said that as a citizen she would have a problem, but if President she would put her personal feelings aside and would sign. Mr Nally said he would have no difficulty in the context. While every President had a right to his/ her own opinion, signing legislation went with the job.
Asked whether she would have difficulty signing legislation allowing abortion, Dana said she felt the question was "mischievous", as it was an impossible situation, so unlikely to happen that she shouldn't be asked the question.
Pressed by Mr Byrne, who said that 10 years ago the same would have been said about contraception and five years ago it was being said about divorce, Dana said she would have difficulty signing such legislation. But she thought it as likely as signing legislation "for elephants in the kitchen".
Ms McAleese said "you mightn't like it, but you just have to sign it."
Asked if signing abortion Bills could be a resigning matter, Dana replied: "It would depend on the circumstances. It might."