The presidential election is expected to take place at the end of October following the President, Mrs Robinson's decision to resign on September 12th -
11 weeks before the end of her term - to take up her new UN post.
The Government will decide the polling date after she leaves office but the election must be held within 60 days of her resignation.
Mrs Robinson, who announced her decision yesterday in New York, said she had come under "a lot of pressure" from the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, to take up the post of High Commissioner for Human Rights in September. She had earlier said that she would prefer to finish her presidential term, which ends on December 3rd.
Mrs Robinson told a brief press conference at UN headquarters that she would be resigning "on December 12th". Mr Annan, who was standing beside her, leaned forward and whispered: "Say September, you said December."
Mrs Robinson quickly corrected the mistake, saying that she would retire from the presidency on September 12th at 1 p.m. She would then go to Geneva, where her future office will be, and then to New York for the start of the General
Assembly on September 16th.
"The Secretary General, both before today and in particular today, emphasised that it was very important that I be in place before the General Assembly; that
I be here to speak for the office of High Commissioner and for human rights in the key meetings at the beginning of the General Assembly; and I understand the urgency of the situation," said Mrs Robinson.
Asked by The Irish Times, "what about the Irish people not having a
President during two months?", she replied: "There is a procedure of a presidential commission which is in place while I am here in New York. So it will, perhaps, mean bringing forward the election for my successor or the procedure for choosing my successor."
This last phrase seemed to allow for the possibility that a contested election would not be necessary if an agreed candidate were to be found by the main political parties.
However, confirmation of the timing of Mrs Robinson's departure has focussed the attention of all the political parties on finding candidates and it is expected that the parties will not agree a "unity candidate".
Presenting Mrs Robinson to the press, Mr Annan said: "We are excited to have her on board. We think she is going to be a wonderful addition to the team."
In her formal statement issued in New York and Dublin, Mrs Robinson recorded her "sincere appreciation" for the support she had received from the Irish people during her presidency.
Earlier, Mrs Robinson had a 40-minute meeting with Mr Annan in his office in the UN building. As well as discussing the date for her to take up the human rights post, they talked about the candidates for the number two post of deputy commissioner. She asked the Secretary General "to give me a little time to assess more from the position of knowing exactly both the potential candidates and also the nature of the office".
She said she was "very aware of the importance of having a good geographical balance, a good sense of bringing together north and south in a joint commitment to human rights - that will be central to assessing who will be the appropriate person for that position".