John Hume for President? It might be no more than an after-lunch discussion, seized upon by politicians who would be happy to avoid a contest - and having to take a decision on candidates - once Mrs Robinson departs for the UN. Yet Mr Hume seems to have been happy to voice his thoughts in the company of the New York Times correspondent in Ireland, Mr Jim Clarity. Until he clarifies his position formally and finally no assumptions should be made.
Two separate issues of national importance would have to be addressed if Mr Hume were to confirm an interest in becoming President of Ireland in succession to Mrs Robinson later this year. First, what would be the implications for the peace process if he were to remove to a position which must take him out of active politics? Second, would he make a suitable President? The second question is easily answered if taken in isolation. Mr Hume is by far the most appropriate of the various candidates who have so far emerged as possible successors to Mrs Robinson. He has the stature and the vision to ensure that the highest office in the land does not slide backwards from the high water mark of the Robinson presidency. He has an international profile and reputation as a peacemaker and democrat. He has prodigious energy and drive. There is every reason to believe that he would bring to the presidency the same qualities which have characterised his political career at local, national and international levels. Every fibre of his being is imbued with the ideals with which Ireland would wish to be identified. He has an unshakeable belief in the human capacity to make progress through compromise and agreement. He has an absolute abhorrence of violence. He has a vision of a world ordered by agreement and by law, in which each individual's human rights are respected and in which their potential can be fulfilled.
But the first question remains; what would be the implications for the peace process of Mr Hume going to Aras an Uachtarain, thereby effectively removing himself from a rapidly-changing political landscape and from the shaping of a new settlement in the North? He has been central to constitutional politics on this island for so long that it is difficult to visualise it without him.
It can be argued, nonetheless, that with the declaration of a second IRA ceasefire and with the two governments clearly setting a course for new administrative and constitutional arrangements, Mr Hume has perhaps brought the process as far as he can. He has delivered the pre-conditions for a lasting peace to the best of his abilities. And taking a worst-case scenario, if the peace fails this time, it will be beyond even John Hume's capacities to restore it.
It might even be argued that Mr Hume's translation to Aras an Uachtarain could strengthen the odds in favour of a successful outcome to the political talks in the North. Fresh leadership in the SDLP might make it easier for the unionists to deal. The SDLP itself would face a challenge but it could only emerge strengthened by demonstrating that it has life after John Hume. It will have to do so sooner or later.
Ireland would do well to have John Hume as its President. There would be all-party support for his nomination and there would be almost universal acclamation among the electorate. If Mr Hume is considering the proposition he must be in no doubt on that score. Perhaps a more difficult question for him to answer is whether he would be willing and able, as the office demands, to distance himself from political issues. It would not come easily to him.