The election was considered a political failure for the Fine Gael party and would cause their leader, Alan Dukes, to resign in the immediate aftermath.

[2] Noël Browne was a politician who had first emerged into Irish politics as a member of Clann na Poblachta and a Minister for Health in his very first term as a Teachta Dala as part of the first "interparty" government of 1948.

Browne was initially lauded for his successful crusade against Tuberculous in Ireland, but his plan to introduce the Mother and Child Scheme was a major component in bringing down the government.

Spring's announcement in January had piqued Browne's interest and that of his supporters (which included Labour members such as Michael D. Higgins and Emmet Stagg).

[2] However, the Spring-Robinson talks continued to progress in parallel to Browne's movements, and on 4 April, Spring held a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party to discuss each candidate.

[6] At the 1990 Fine Gael Ard Fheis, party leader Alan Dukes promised that he would find a "candidate of vigour and stature" to contest the election.

However, Dukes had great difficulty in trying to secure a candidate from his party's ranks, primarily due to their perception that Fianna Fáil's Brian Lenihan would be a runaway favourite to win.

[1] Hederman's bid was supported by Independent TDs such as Tony Gregory and Seán Dublin Bay Rockall Loftus as well Green TD Roger Garland.

[1] When Lenihan entered the race in mid-September, he was considered the odds-on favourite; no Fianna Fáil candidate had ever lost a presidential election.

[17] On October 11, the Green Party announced that it had held a ballot of its members and they had overwhelmingly voted to officially support Robinson's campaign bid.

Polling carried out by The Irish Times by 16 October showed that half of those who considered themselves Fine Gael supporters favoured Robinson over Currie.

[20] Furthermore, although their party was officially "neutral", many Progressive Democrats activists were broadly sympathetic to Robinson's social views and were also attracted to offering her support.

[19] Members of Fianna Fáil would repeat similar accusations as the polls tightened and it became apparent that Robinson was a credible threat to Lenihan's campaign.

Upon the release of the interview, the Fianna Fáil affiliated newspaper The Irish Press lead that day with a front-page headline reading "LONGEST SUICIDE NOTE IN HISTORY" and an article by Emily O’Reilly focusing on Robinson responding "Yes" when asked in the interview if she would, as president, officiate the opening of a stall selling contraceptives in a Virgin Megastore.

[22][23][24] Although Lenihan was the initial favourite to win the election, his campaign was derailed when he confirmed in an on-the-record interview with freelance journalist and academic researcher Jim Duffy that he had been involved in controversial attempts to pressurise President Patrick Hillery not to dissolve the Dáil in 1982.

[25][26] After the contrast between his public denials during the campaign and his eventual confirmation of his role during his earlier interview recorded in May the Progressive Democrats, then in coalition with Fianna Fáil, threatened to support an opposition motion of no confidence unless Lenihan was dismissed from the government or an inquiry into the 1982 events was set up.

On 3 November, just days before voting was due to take place, cabinet minister Pádraig Flynn of Fianna Fáil made an appearance on the RTÉ Radio 1 show Saturday View alongside Michael McDowell of the Progressive Democrats and Brendan Howlin of the Labour Party.

During the segment, Flynn launched a personal attack on Mary Robinson, accusing her of "having a new-found interest in her family" as part of a new public persona introduced for the campaign.

Similarly, an incensed Howlin called the remarks typical of a Fianna Fáil campaign in which "no dirt was too awful, no smear too great", and accused Flynn of outright lying about Robinson.