The parties in the south are circling one another, wary of giving opponents any target to aim at in the presidential election stakes before the race has begun in earnest.

The only party candidate who has declared is Fine Gael’s Mairead McGuinness, former MEP and a vice-president of the European Parliament.

The campaign is unlike any other, where dozens of candidates spread across the state share the flak.

Already other would-be candidates can see the intense scrutiny a presidential hopeful faces.

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Questions have been asked about McGuinness’s MEP expenses claims for renting an office in premises she and her husband owned.

There has also been widespread coverage of McGuinness attending a gala lunch in 2003 five days after a car accident for which she received damages for “severe and debilitating injuries”.

Fine Gael has defended her, saying “she acted in full accordance with the advice of her medical practitioners”.