Home > Irish presidential election, 1990

In the Irish presidential election in 1990 the Irish Labour Party let it be known that it would for the first time run a candidate. It chose as its candidate Mary Robinson, SC., a former senator and liberal campaigner. Fianna Fáil let it be known that it would run Án Tánaiste Brian Lenihan, TD, though he faced a late challenge for the party nomination from another senior minister, John Wilson, TD. Fine Gael, after trying and failing to get former Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald and former Tánaiste Peter Barry to run, it settled on new Fine Gael TD and former Social Democratic and Labour Party minister in Northern Ireland Austin CurrieAustin Currie (born 1939) is a former Irish politician. Austin Currie was born in County Tyrone on 11 October 1939. He was educated at Dungannon and Queen's University, Belfast. Between 1964 and 1972 he was elected as Stormont MP for east Tyrone. He becam.

Lenihan entered the race as odds-on favourite; no Fianna Fáil candidate had ever lost a presidential election. However Lenihan was derailed when he confirmed in an on-the-record interview with freelance journalist and academic researcher Jim DuffyJim Duffy (born 12 April 1966) is the former post-graduate student at University College Dublin whose 'on-the-record' interview with then Tanaiste Brian Lenihan in 1990, in which Lenihan talked about pressures placed by him and other senior Fianna Fail fi that he had been involved in controversial attempts to pressurise President HilleryPatrick John Hillery (born May 2, 1923) was the sixth President of Ireland (1976-1990). He was born in Miltown Malbay in County Clare in the then Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland). Though not himself political (he worked as a doctor and Count over a controversial parliamentary dissolution in 1982Events January January 6 William Bonin is convicted of being the "freeway killer". January 8 AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara du. When the contrast between his public denials during the campaign and his confirmation during his earlier interview (recorded in May) he was dismissed from the Irish government. In a shock outcome, Labour's Mary Robinson beat Austin Currie, forcing Fine Gael's candidate into a humiliating third place. Robinson then beat Lenihan on transfers on the second count, to become the seventh president of IrelandThe President of Ireland ( Irish: Uachtaran na hEireann is the head of state of the Republic of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain reserv.

The results were as follows: