Everyone has a view on the presidency, including it seems rock stars, weather forecasters, GAA legends, and even the occasional politician.
But apart from giving a positive impression of Ireland at home and abroad, what exactly does the role involve, and what can the incumbent do when they eventually enter the Áras?
From signing off on ministerial appointments and laws, to potentially referring legislation for review, to being the ceremonial head of the Defence Forces, to even refusing to dissolve the Dáil in rare and so far unused circumstances, the president does wield important powers.
But those powers are also limited, including when it comes to questions over whether the president can personally veto legislation, remove the government of the day, or even leave the country without informing and receiving the permission of cabinet.
Added into that mix the question of whether or not the president can publicly express their opinion on political or social matters without first seeking government approval - an increasingly prominent debate due to the changing nature of recent tenures - and the presidency is not as clear cut as some may have you believe.
How those powers and limitations interact is a central part of what the seven-year position as head of state involves, and has influenced the styles and legacies of all nine Presidents of Ireland to date.
So, for voters unsure about the role - and for some potential candidates who might benefit from a crash course on the position's details - here is an overview of the powers and limitations the next president will work within over the next seven years.
Presidency: The basics
While most people will already be aware of the basics of the presidency - including who can seek the position, who can vote in the election, what exactly the position involves and how Ireland's head of state differs from some other countries - the details are worth repeating.
These are all set out in articles 12 to 14 of the Constitution, Bunreacht na hÉireann, which firstly states the president must be a citizen of Ireland and must be aged 35 years or older.
In order to change from being a person interested in becoming president to a formal candidate in the election, an individual has two options.
The first is to receive the backing of 20 or more TDs and senators, while the second is to receive the support of four or more local authorities, which themselves have varying rules on who is allowed to attend a local authority meeting to make their pitch.
Some potential candidates have claimed in recent weeks that this process is anti-democratic and could see larger parties effectively block individuals from seeking office.
However, this claim ignores the fact that TDs, senators and local councillors who decide on who can become a formal candidate have themselves been democratically elected and therefore represent the public; that it is not feasible for every citizen to become a candidate; and that despite blocking claims Independent candidates often get endorsed, including four of the six candidates in 2018, when 18 of 31 councils endorsed an Independent.
Once the formal candidates are ratified - and in 2025 that will take place by 24 September - the next stage is an election date in the coming weeks, with this year's polling day due to take place on 24 October.
Any citizen of Ireland who is eligible to vote in the general election is also automatically eligible to vote in this election, through the same proportional representation system that oversees local and general election campaigns.
Those potential candidates who have overcome the nominations hurdles to become official candidates will have the right to then seek your vote to succeed current President Michael D Higgins for the next seven years.
Should the ultimately successful candidate elected on 24 October wish to continue after those seven years conclude, the nomination process becomes far easier as a sitting president may seek re-election for a second term simply by nominating themselves.
But, just like current President Michael D Higgins, once that second term ends the sitting president must depart the role, as the Constitution says no one can stay for more than two terms as Head of State.
Of the nine presidents of Ireland since Douglas Hyde first took up the role on 25 June 1938, five have successfully been elected to a second term (Seán T Kelly, June 1945-June 1959; Éamon de Valera, June 1959-June 1973; Patrick Hillery, December 1976-December 1990; Mary McAleese, November 1997-November 2011; Michael D Higgins, November 2011-current).
This two-term limitation is of course similar to the presidency of some other nations, including the United States.
However, the Constitution makes it clear that unlike our cousins across the pond, Ireland is a parliamentary democracy, meaning while the president is the Head of State and formally finalises legislation and ministerial appointments, in reality this is a largely - though not entirely - ceremonial role, with the day-to-day responsibility of running the country controlled by government.
This is outlined in article 13.11 of the Constitution, which states:
"No power of function conferred on the president by law shall be exercisable or performable by him save only on the advice of the government."
A reality that means while the president does have some powers, there are also limitations to what he or she can do.
What is the president allowed to do?
Now everyone is up to speed on the basics, what can the president do once they have received the keys to Áras an Uachtaráin?
Well, he or she has several important powers which - while having limitations - are key to the checks and balances at the centre of Ireland's democratic system.
Among the most important powers the president has is the passing or rejecting of legislation initially passed by the Dáil and Seanad.
However, despite what some potential candidates seeking to become president have claimed, it is nowhere near that simple.
Article 13.3.1 of the Constitution states that "every bill passed or deemed to have been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas shall require the signature of the president for its enactment into law".
This means that no legislation becomes law until it is formally signed by the president, with whoever becomes Ireland's next Head of State having the right to send any legislation for review if he or she has concerns over its constitutionality.
The first stage of that review takes place within seven days of these concerns being raised and involves the calling of the Council of State, a group that consists of the taoiseach, tánaiste, chief justice, president of the court of appeal, president of the High Court, Dáil ceann comhairle, Seanad cathaoirleach, attorney general, and every living former president, taoiseach and chief justice.
Should this group decide that they also have concerns over the proposed legislation, it is sent to the Supreme Court, which makes the final decision on whether the potential new law is constitutional or not.
That decision is confirmed in open court after consideration by at least five members of the Supreme Court no more than 60 days after the legislation was first sent to the president.
If the Supreme Court rules that the legislation is unconstitutional, and this has happened on seven of the 16 times it has been asked to deliberate on a potential new law, then the legislation is sent back to the Dáil and Seanad.
However, if the Supreme Court says there are no issues with the potential new law, then article 26.3.3 of the Constitution applies, which reads:
"In every other case the president shall sign the bill as soon as may be after the date on which the decision of the Supreme Court shall have been pronounced."
In other words, a president can only ask the Supreme Court to decide on whether a potential new law should be signed or not, after consultation with the Council of State, and cannot by themselves veto any legislation.
Thankfully, many of the president's other powers are far less technical.
They include the formal appointment of a government and its cabinet ministers, which only happens once the taoiseach, tánaiste and ministers of the day have received their official seal of office from the president.
This process is a largely ceremonial role and takes place after a general election, government formation negotiations, the Dáil vote on a taoiseach and separate Dáil votes on ministers and junior ministers, meaning the president rubber-stamps a process that has already largely been approved.
In theory those appointments should result in a long-lasting government.
But, as watchers of Irish politics will know all too well, not all governments last as long as they have planned, with snap elections often called.
In that situation, the president has a role too, with the taoiseach of the day having to travel to Áras an Uachtaráin to be formally told by the president he or she can call a general election.
While no president has ever turned down this request, there were times when the Head of State is rumoured to have come close.
They include then president Patrick Hillery who in 1982 came under intense pressure from Charles Haughey's Fianna Fáil opposition to refuse Fine Gael taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald's request to dissolve the Dáil as it would likely mean Fianna Fáil could force a Dáil vote to take power.
It was rumoured current President Michael D Higgins, during the post-2016 general election mammoth government formation talks, took a dim view of suggestions Enda Kenny may ask for a second election to be called.
Among other powers the President of Ireland has is the right to request to speak to the Dáil and Seanad and speak to the wider public in a national address on issues of genuine public interest and matters of the day.
But these extremely rare Dáil, Seanad and national addresses, which are outlined in more detail below, are only allowed to take place after agreement by the Council of State and consultation with government on their details, a situation that has led to some debate over whether the same constraints apply or not to more general remarks in media interviews, including those by former president Mary Robinson during her tenure and current President Michael D Higgins.
Outside of these powers, the president also has the right to pardon prisoners and former prisoners and officially has the "supreme command" of the Defence Forces.
But like other powers outlined above, these have restrictions, as pardons can only be given after consultation and agreement with the government of the day, while the Defences Forces title is in effect a ceremonial role.
What the president is not allowed to do
What all of that means is that, while the president has powers, they are far from absolute and have key limitations placed upon them - in part to ensure the central role of parliamentary democracy in the Irish political system.
As stated above, despite claims in some quarters that a president can personally veto legislation, in reality they cannot, and must instead seek the views of the Council of State and in rare cases, potentially have to refer potential new laws to the Supreme Court for a final ruling.
In theory, even if the Supreme Court rules that the legislation in question is constitutional, a sitting president could of course simply invoke a final power by choosing not to pick up a pen and sign it into law.
But, in that hypothetical scenario, they would not be sitting for long.
That's because although the president is the Head of State and according to the Constitution will "take precedence over all other persons in the State", in reality that same Constitution allows the Dáil and Seanad to remove the president if they do not comply with the rules of the role.
Article 12.10 of the Constitution states that 30 or more members of the Dáil and Seanad can sign a form seeking to impeach the president for "stated misbehaviour", such as refusing to sign a piece of legislation into law after the Council of State and Supreme Court stages have concluded it is constitutional.
If this occurs, all TDs and senators will be asked to vote on whether they agree with the proposal, with a two thirds combined majority of both Houses of the Oireachtas needed in order for this to happen.
The sitting president in this hypothetical scenario will have the right to appear before the Dáil and Seanad to make their case, but if after this interaction two thirds of TDs and senators still believe the president is "not fit for office" then they can be removed.
That, it should be emphasised, is a situation that has never happened before and is unlikely to happen any time soon.
But questions over more likely matters - specifically how far a president can go in public comments on issues of the day - are very much up for discussion in the current climate.
In recent years, President Michael D Higgins has made a number of public remarks during media events and in speeches about issues ranging from what is happening in Gaza to the housing crisis in Ireland - publicly expressed views that have raised eyebrows within Government and among some constitutional experts.
Former president Mary Robinson also courted some controversy in 1991, when she resolved to meet the Dalai Lama despite the then leader of the Fianna Fáil-led government Charles Haughey strongly suggesting it would "not be helpful". Mr Haughey and Mrs Robinson, it will be recalled, were not exactly each other's biggest fans.
Formally, the Constitution is clear on at least some of this, saying that in terms of any formal statement to the Dáil or Seanad, or any formal address to the nation, a president must first discuss what they will say with the council of state and inform government.
Specifically, while articles 13.7.1 and 13.7.2 say "the president may after consultation with the council of state communicate with the Houses of the Oireachtas/address a message to the nation", while article 13.7.3 says "every such message or address must, however, have received the approval of the government".
A grey area exists, however, on media engagements and interviews, with the Constitution not specifically preventing a president from raising matters such as those referenced above, or at least implying them.
And it has caused much debate in recent months and years, with a view put forward that while people who agree with unplanned remarks from the president today may be opening the door for a future president to make comments on other high-profile issues that they may oppose.
Different styles of previous presidents
All of these powers and limitations have played a role in the changing style of presidents over the decades, which in turn have reflected the public's perception of the role.
The first President of Ireland after the 1937 Constitution was Douglas Hyde, who despite a stroke in 1940 remained in place from 1938 until 1945.
President Hyde's tenure is mainly seen as one which stuck strictly to the position as outlined in the Constitution, and saw the first attempt to show that the presidency represented all citizens due to his Church of Ireland background and interest in the Irish language.
However, it was not without some controversy, with one of his final acts as president being his 3 May, 1945, visit to then-German ambassador Eduard Hempel to offer his formal condolences on the death of Adolf Hitler, a decision which was meant to emphasise Ireland's neutrality and remained secret until 2005.
A similar but more traditional presidential style occurred in the following incumbents, with Seán T O Kelly's (1945-1959) first foreign trip as president being to meet Pope Pius XII in the Vatican, before he became the first president invited to the White House.
That approach to the role was continued by his successor Éamon De Valera, whose 14-year tenure remains one of the most dominant in Irish presidential history.
President De Valera's time in the Áras began in 1959 after three separate periods as taoiseach in the previous three decades, and during the final years of his career and life.
Indeed, his second term inauguration in 1966 at the age of 84 meant that, until 2013, he was the oldest elected Head of State, while he was the oldest head of state in the world when he retired aged 90 in 1973.
Views of Mr De Valera's time in office still cause division, with some seeing his period as president as embodying the Ireland of that time, others questioning his health in his later years and in some critics' minds a dominant traditional control over a society that was slowly modernising.
After such lengthy presidential terms, the following two years saw two different presidents in situ, with Erskine Childers' 17 months in office from June 1973 until his death in November, 1974 followed by Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh's 22 months.
The latter of these former presidents, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, resigned from the role in October 1976 - one of only two presidents to do so - after a significant row with the then-Fine Gael government over his decision to refer the Emergency Powers Bill to the Supreme Court.
This Bill eventually increased the length of time someone could be held without being charged from two to seven days, and was put forward by the Liam Cosgrave government at the height of the Troubles.
President Ó Dálaigh signed the Bill into law after the Supreme Court said it was constitutional on the same day Garda Michael Clerkin was killed in a provisional IRA bomb attack.
In a highly controversial and damaging turn of events, the then-minister for defence Paddy Donegan reportedly responded to what happened by calling the delay in enabling the legislation a "thundering disgrace", a comment which led President Ó Dálaigh to believe the relationship between the pair had been "irrevocably broken".
While Paddy Donegan eventually offered his resignation, this was rejected by then-taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, leading to President Ó Dálaigh resigning "to protect the dignity and independence of the presidency".
He was succeeded by Patrick Hillery, whose 14-year tenure from 1976 to 1990 is largely remembered for his role in deciding what to do after the Garret Fitzgerald-led Fine Gael-Labour coalition lost a budget vote in January 1982 due to a controversial plan to tax children's shoes.
Mr Fitzgerald subsequently travelled to the Áras to ask the president to dissolve the Dáil, while phone calls were made from senior members of Charles Haughey's Fianna Fáil opposition urging the president to refuse to do so - a situation which would have most likely allowed Charles Haughey to take power.
Fianna Fáil members later claimed they were simply trying to advise and help the president, as was allowed under a specific interpretation of the Irish language version of the Constitution, while President Hillery was clear the English language version said the president decides on their own.
Reportedly irked by the attempt to influence him, President Hillery ignored the opposition phone calls and agreed to dissolve the Dáil, continuing the precedent of no president ever refusing the request.
That slowly-increasing independence of the president, and subtly changing nature of the role, has quickly gathered pace among the most recent three holders of the role - Mary Robinson, Mary McAleese and Michael D Higgins.
The first woman and first left-wing candidate to win the presidency, Mary Robinson's election in December 1990 is widely seen as marking another key stage in the development of the modern day Irish State.
In her victory speech, President Robinson told the country that she was "elected by the women of Ireland, who instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system" after beating Brian Lenihan Senior and Austin Currie to the role.
Amid some controversy, she stepped down early from the presidency in September 1997 to take up a position as high commissioner for human rights at the United Nations.
This was not the only controversy during her time in office.
Other cases - which highlighted the more independent style developing within the presidency - included President Robinson being prevented by the Charles Haughey Fianna Fáil-led government from leaving the State in 1991 to give a lecture in England on the role of women and family in Ireland; her visit to famine-struck Somalia in 1992; and her separate 1993 decisions to shake hands with both Queen Elizabeth II and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, the latter against the wishes of then-Labour leader and tánaiste Dick Spring among others.
Mary Robinson's successor Mary McAleese saw a return to a two-term president, with her time in power lasting from 1997 until 2011.
That era included President McAleese following a similar but different road to her predecessor, including her decision to "build bridges" with the unionist and loyalist community in Northern Ireland; a choice to take Church of Ireland communion while being a Catholic; and her speaking out against homophobia.
Similarly, in 2011, President McAleese turned down an invitation to be Grand Marshal at the 250th St Patrick's Day Parade in New York City.
While there was much speculation this was due to the parade organiser's then position of declining to allow gay people to march under their own banner, a spokesperson for President McAleese at the time said it was because of "scheduling constraints".
The journey from the first Presidents of Ireland's strictly by the book style to that of the modern day is completed by President Michael D Higgins, who while popular has sparked debate - leading to both plaudits and criticism - over his public comments in his role.
Now in power for 14 years, President Higgins has continued his lifelong style of leaning into discussions in his role as Head of State.
The most recent pronouncements have taken place during his second term, including in June 2022 when he went close to directly speaking about government policy by saying housing is Ireland's "great, great failure" and that "it isn't a crisis anymore, it's a disaster".
While those comments provoked some quiet and not-so-quiet criticism within government, many others felt the President was simply highlighting a reality for citizens and as such did not breach the limits on what a president can do.
But in January of this year, the wider issue arose again, with President Higgins accused by Israel's then-ambassador to Ireland Dana Erlich of "politicising" Holocaust Memorial Day by telling a commemoration event:
"Those in Israel who mourn their loved ones, those who have been waiting for the release of hostages, or the thousands searching for relatives in the rubble in Gaza will welcome the long-overdue ceasefire for which there has been such a heavy price paid."
The changing style of the presidential role, from Hyde to Higgins, De Valera to Robinson, has of course all occurred within the same powers and constraints of the position that are outlined in the Constitution.
The reality of those powers, the impact of those constraints, and what a president is legally allowed to actually say and do are points that all potential candidates in this year's Presidential Election will have to consider as the campaign heats up.
And just as importantly, despite the promises being made by prospective candidates, those same powers and constraints will need to be kept in mind by voters too as they listen to the promises of contenders and attempt to decide on who to support when they go to the ballot box on 24 October.
