The "Northern factor" in the presidential campaign was first raised when John Hume was suggested as a candidate. Letters were written to newspapers voicing disquiet at the possibility of having a President from Northern Ireland. Now, with Prof Mary McAleese and Mrs Rosemary Scallon (Dana) both candidates, the issue has re-emerged. There have been telephone calls from the public to radio stations asking why there had to be candidates from the North.
The Irish Times spoke to Northerners who work or worked in the South.
Mr Pascal Taggart, businessman and financier, who is setting up Ireland on Sunday, the new paper which appears for the first time tomorrow, said certain people were not happy that candidates were from the North. This had happened particularly when John Hume was suggested, but people were entitled to their views.
Prof Mary McAleese could certainly lose votes, he said. However, the other side of the coin was that people might well vote for a Northern candidate to show that they believed in a 32-county Ireland.
He had heard people discuss this issue but it was more in connection with John Hume. It was an interesting situation. He said he had never encountered any problems himself with being down South.
Mr Colm Larkin, Director of the European Commission in Ireland, said Southerners had good will towards Northerners, but nationalist Northerners, in particular, had to be careful. They needed the South, but the South didn't need the North.
Northerners could be arrogant and assume that Southerners accepted their agenda and their priorities, but Southerners operated at a much wider agenda, juggling a complex web of relationships with Europe, London, Washington, and with international business.
The writer and broadcaster on Radio Ireland, John Kelly, said he had heard people putting forward this view about Northern candidates on radio and was shocked. It was the first time he had heard this. It was an attitude he had not come across before. Certainly, he had never experienced anything of the like personally.
So many Northern people contributed to public life in the South. He would hate to think that it was going to be a factor, not only in the presidential election, but in any way. However, he learned something new about attitudes every day.
The solicitor and civil rights activist, Mr Michael Farrell, said he had experienced reaction to him as somebody from the North, and this was partly personal. This was when he first came South 13 years ago, but there was nothing since. He had heard the question arise more when John Hume was being talked about as a candidate. He said so far he had not heard anything about it in relation to Prof McAleese or Dana.
The SIPTU Equality Officer, Ms Noirin Greene, said she had not heard anything this time around, and this might be because the current discussion was centred on the fact that four women had been nominated. When John Hume was mentioned, she was rather taken by surprise by the support and amount of good will he got. She thought it was too soon for the debate on any Northern aspect to have started at this time.
The former Independent senator and surgeon, John Robb, said when he became a senator he encountered no problems. It was very important for people to feel they could move about from one country to another. He was very glad two people from the North were nominated. He was made to feel very welcome when he was a senator.
Dr Maurice Hayes, who was appointed to the Seanad as one of the Taoiseach's nominees in the last Seanad election, said he had no experience of any problems in the South because he was from the North. When John Hume was suggested, there was some reaction to it, but he had not experienced any such an outlook himself.