She defeated Fianna Fáil's Brian Lenihan and Fine Gael's Austin Currie in the 1990 presidential election becoming, as an Independent candidate nominated by the Labour Party, the Workers ' Party and independent senators, the first elected president in the office's history not to have had the support of Fianna Fáil.

It emerged during the campaign that what Lenihan had told friends and insiders in private flatly contradicted his public statements on a controversial effort in 1982 by the then opposition Fianna Fáil to pressure President Hillery into refusing a parliamentary dissolution to then Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald ; Hillery had resolutely rejected the pressure.

Lenihan denied he had pressured the President but then a tape was produced of an ' on the record ' interview he had given to a postgraduate student the previous May in which he frankly discussed attempting to apply pressure.

Lenihan claimed that " on mature recollection " he hadn't pressured the President and had been confused in his interview with the student.

Three candidates had been nominated in the 1990 presidential election: the then Tánaiste, Brian Lenihan from Fianna Fáil ( widely viewed as the certain winner ), Austin Currie from Fine Gael and Mary Robinson from Labour.

In May 1990, in an on the record interview with Jim Duffy, a post-graduate student researching the Irish presidency, Lenihan had confirmed that he had been one of those phoning Hillery in January 1982.

In October 1990, Lenihan changed his story, claiming ( even though he had said the opposite for eight years ) that he had played " no hand, act or part " in pressurising President Hillery that night.

Their pressure backfired, particularly when his campaign manager, Bertie Ahern, named Duffy as the person to whom he had given the interview in a radio broadcast, forcing a besieged Duffy to reverse an earlier decision and release the relevant segment of his interview with Lenihan.

The revelations, and the discovery that Hillery had stood up to pressure from former cabinet colleagues, including his close friend Brian Lenihan, back in 1982 increased Hillery's standing substantially.

Haughey angrily denied the charge, though Lenihan, in his subsequently published account of the affair, noted that Haughey had denied " insulting " the officer, whereas the allegation was that he had " threatened " him.

Three other cabinet ministers had also contemplated running-Brian Lenihan, Kevin Boland and Donogh O ' Malley.

He first achieved prominence in 1990 when the contents of his on-the-record interview with then Tánaiste Brian Lenihan, in which Lenihan admitted making calls to the residence of the Irish president seeking to speak to President Hillery to urge him to refuse a Dáil dissolution in controversial circumstances ( something he had previously denied ), led to Lenihan's dismissal from government, his defeat in that year's Irish presidential election and the unexpected election of the left wing liberal Mary Robinson as President of Ireland.

In the interview Lenihan confirmed what he had previously confirmed to other writers over eight years, that on 27 January 1982 he, along with party leader Charles Haughey and a colleague, Sylvester Barrett, had repeatedly phoned Áras an Uachtaráin, the residence of the President of Ireland, to try to put pressure on the President, Patrick Hillery, to refuse a dissolution of parliament to the Taoiseach ( prime minister ), Dr Garret FitzGerald.

He decided to raise the issue of the calls again on the programme, given that in the preceding week Lenihan changed his story of eight years and had now denied twice, first in a student debate, then in an Irish Press interview with Emily O ' Reilly, making any calls.

When challenged on the programme Lenihan maintained that his October 1990 version was correct, denying that he had played " any hand, act of part " in attempts to pressurise President Hillery.

FitzGerald had been in Áras an Uachtaráin on the night of the calls and had been told by the President's staff that Lenihan had persistently been making calls.

The possibility of transfers increased Robinson's chances if only Lenihan could be further weakened.

In a statement on 30 March 2010, a day before Anglo Irish Bank reported its financial results, the Minister Of Finance, Brian Lenihan announced an injection of € 8. 3 billion into the bank, noting that a further € 10 billion may be required at a later stage to cover future losses and ensure an adequate capital base.

Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan postponed injecting a further € 10 billion into the banks until after the election – missing a key deadline under the EU-IMF bailout.

In the judgement of historian Padraig Lenihan, ' It is likely that he would have eventually encountered armed resistance from Catholic landowners ' if he had pursued these policies further.

On 26 October 2009 Brady said that further cuts to Ireland ’ s overseas development budget would have a devastating impact on the lives of some of the world's poorest people, In a letter to Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan he said: " These vulnerable people have had no part to play in creating the multiple crises now facing them – climate, financial, food – yet the challenges they face are unprecedented.

In the aftermath, the minority party in the coalition government, the Progressive Democrats indicated that unless Lenihan resigned from cabinet, they would resign from government and support an opposition motion of no confidence in Dáil Éireann, bringing down the government and causing a general election.

When Lenihan refused, Haughey formally advised President Hillery to dismiss Lenihan as Tánaiste, Minister for Defence and member of the cabinet, which the President as constitutionally required duly did.

Brian Patrick Lenihan ( 17 November 1930 – 1 November 1995 ) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, who served in a range of cabinet positions, most notably as Tánaiste ( deputy Prime Minister ), Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Justice.

He was a member of a family political dynasty ; his father, Patrick Lenihan, and sister both followed him into Dáil Éireann ; his sister Mary O ' Rourke sitting in cabinet with him.

A cabinet reshuffle in 1964 saw Lenihan join the cabinet of Seán Lemass as Minister for Justice.

Lenihan was generally perceived as an unbeatable candidate, though he did receive a late challenge for the nomination from cabinet colleague John Wilson.

O ' Rourke and her brother, Brian Lenihan, became the first brother and sister in Irish history to serve in the same cabinet.

His plan to merge Trinity College, Dublin and University College Dublin aroused huge controversy and was not successful, despite being supported by his cabinet colleague Brian Lenihan.

Cowen survived, however, that same month Martin admitted that he and other cabinet members, namedly Brian Lenihan and Dermot Ahern, harboured ambitions to lead the party should a vacancy arise.

Two of his children, Brian Lenihan and Mary O ' Rourke served as Irish cabinet ministers.

The minor party in Charles Haughey's government, the Progressive Democrats, threatened to quit government and cause a general election unless either Lenihan was sacked from cabinet or an inquiry was ordered into the events of January 1982.

Initially, Fianna Fáil's Brian Lenihan had been favourite to win, however after a number of controversies arising from the brief Fianna Fáil administration of 1981 – 82, and Lenihan's dismissal as Minister for Defence mid-way through the campaign, the Labour Party's Mary Robinson emerged victorious.

The scheme, however, was abandoned after mass opposition, Lenihan famously being forced to flee student protests in Trinity through a toilet window.

Lenihan, however, had a serious flaw.

Des O ' Malley was seen as the clear front-runner to succeed Haughey, however, O ' Kennedy's name was also mentioned alongside other party stalwarts like Gerry Collins and Brian Lenihan.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan was seen as Martin's biggest rival for the position, however, his position was weakened due to his public declaration of support for Cowen the previous week.

Fianna Fáil chose Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Brian Lenihan.

In December 2008, he was appointed by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, Jnr as a public interest director on the board of Anglo Irish Bank.

Brian Lenihan, the Minister of Finance in the Republic of Ireland is another notable alumnus.

Brian Lenihan, Jnr served as Minister for Finance and Conor was Minister of State in the government of Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

As Minister it was Lenihan who repealed Ireland's notorious censorship laws.

In 1968 Lemass's successor Jack Lynch appointed Lenihan as Minister for Education.

In 1973 Patrick Hillery was appointed EEC Commissioner and Lenihan finally secured his much sought-after portfolio, that of Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Haughey, seeking to weaken the faction supporting Colley, appointed Lenihan as Minister for Foreign Affairs, a post he held until Fianna Fáil lost power in 1981.

In 1982, when Fianna Fáil regained power for ten months, Lenihan was Minister for Agriculture, the announcement in the Dáil being greeted by a sustained round of laughter on the opposition benches.

In 1987 Fianna Fáil returned to power and Lenihan was for the third and final time appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs, with the additional post of Tánaiste ( deputy prime minister ).

She supported the attack on Cowen by her nephew, former Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, who said he was " disappointed " by Cowen's performance and he had to provide the leadership when the Taoiseach did not.

Brian Lenihan, Jnr was the Minister for Finance.

Conor Lenihan was a Minister of State, though he failed to get re-elected at the 2011 general election.

His choices of Mary Coughlan for Tánaiste and Brian Lenihan, Jnr as Minister for Finance were criticised as inappropriate by The Irish Times for their " distressing " lack of experience.

In September 2009, the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, expressed a similar view, saying it would lead to more lending for business and households.

On 24 January, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan met with delegations from Fine Gael, Labour, and the Greens, striking a final deal.