It was politically unfortunate - and personally deeply unfair to Mary McAleese - that the issue of whether she should wear a poppy at her inauguration should have become a test of her commitment to follow through on her promise to build bridges between the people of this State and the unionist community in Northern Ireland.
The decision had been made more difficult for her because this weekend is the 10th anniversary of the Enniskillen bombing, an atrocity every bit as terrible as Bloody Sunday in Derry. Last week, survivors of the bombing spoke of its effects on their lives. One of them was Joan Wilson, widow of Gordon and mother of Marie.
This is how she described her husband's death in 1995: "He left me peacefully. I felt his mission had been accomplished. He had worked as hard as he could for peace. He had lost two children. He had seen the IRA. He had given of his time to young people and to the work of reconciliation."
Joan Wilson spoke with a tragic dignity which honoured her husband's memory. It also reminded the rest of us how far we have fallen short of matching the example of his generosity and grace. Very many Irish people, myself among them, had hoped the arrival of peace in Northern Ireland would allow both communities - unionist and nationalist, Catholic and Protestant - to draw together in grieving for those who have died.
It even seemed possible that the Remembrance Day poppy could become the focus for a common act of reconciliation. One of the shining moments of hope which came in the wake of the first IRA ceasefire was the ceremony at the Islandbridge war memorial in Dublin, commemorating the 50th anniversary of VE Day, when Tom Hartley of Sinn Fein was present along with representatives of the Ulster Unionist Party. It would have been a gesture of great significance if our President-elect had felt able to wear a poppy on Armistice Day to remember all those Irish men and women who fell in both world wars. But there are compelling reasons why it would have been wrong for her to wear such a symbol at her inauguration, the ceremony which elevates her officially to the position of first citizen of this State.
Like it or not - and I don't - the poppy is still perceived in parts of this island, particularly in the North, as a political emblem which exacerbates grievance and division. The village of Bellaghy, which Seamus Heaney has praised for the civility its inhabitants have demonstrated so often despite their divided loyalties, is now locked in a depressing quarrel over a British Legion march to mark Remembrance Day. In Derry, over a dozen Protestant workers at the Coats Viyella factory have been suspended for wearing "offensive emblems" - i.e. poppies.
Against this fraught background, Mary McAleese has demonstrated political intelligence and personal generosity in arriving at the decision she announced yesterday. In accepting an invitation to the Remembrance Day Service at St Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday, she will send a powerful message not only to the unionist community in Northern Ireland, but to many people in this State who believe it is wrong to deny a place in Irish history to the tens of thousands of our people who fought in two world wars.
The British Legion will be represented at Sunday's ceremony, but the service is ecumenical and determinedly inclusive. Last year the Dean of St Patrick's, Dr Maurice Stewart, led prayers for "those who went forth from this country to two world wars" but also for "members of the Defence Forces of our own land who have given their lives in the service of the UN".
But, just as important, the service is a private occasion which Mary McAleese will attend as an individual worshipper, someone whom we know (partly because she has told us over and over again) will tackle the task of building closer understanding between the different communities and faiths on this island.
There is a subtlety in this decision which bodes well for the future. I write as one who did not welcome Mary McAleese's entry into the presidential race which, it seemed to me, would be seen as quite unnecessarily divisive in the context of Northern Ireland. But credit where credit is due. I have been very struck - reading the editorials in the Belfast newspapers, watching TV - at the positive reaction to a number of things which she has said, even since the election.
The most significant has been her appeal to the GAA to drop the rule which bans members of the British forces and the RUC from playing Gaelic games. She has described Rule 21 as sectarian and added: "Gaelic sports are at a peak of perfection just now, and the ban tarnishes all that should be gilded and golden for all the world to see."
This plea for change has the potential to be every bit as controversial as the wearing of the poppy. But the Irish News, which is understandably delighted with Mary McAleese's victory, has swung in behind her. Movement by the GAA on Rule 21, it argues, would not only help the President-elect "to build a bridge of huge significance", but it would be "a fitting way for Northern nationalists to display their huge respect and affection for her".
There is no doubt that Mary McAleese's comments on this and other issues have provoked great interest, precisely because she is seen an unashamed and forceful nationalist. Her description of the queen as "a lovely woman" has been noted by unionists. So has her admission that she hopes to appoint "a non-nationalist" - by which she presumably means some kind of small "u" unionist - to her Council of State.
There are important political implications to all this. On the night of Mary McAleese's election, I said her victory would be good for Sinn Fein. This was immediately construed as my having suggested that she owed her victory to Gerry Adams, which is obviously not true. But the scale of her victory does show that the endorsement of the Sinn Fein leader did not harm her one bit.
And this must be a boost for his party, just as Mary Robinson's election in 1990 not only helped morale but led to a greatly improved performance by the Labour Party. There is nothing wrong or dangerous in this. On the contrary, the more securely Sinn Fein is bedded down into the political process in both parts of Ireland, the better the chances of a lasting peace.
Mary McAleese's election is a highly emotional issue for Northern nationalists, not least because it demonstrates, in the most dramatic way, that the politics can work.
As I said, I didn't vote for her but I am capable of recognising that when Mary McAleese is inaugurated as President next week she will bring great moral authority to the role. Her decision over the Remembrance Day poppy - and the speed with which she acted to defuse the issue - demonstrate a shrewd political intelligence. These are important gifts. Let us wish them and her "Godspeed"!