Frances Black says she’s aware that many people “really want” her to be a candidate in this year’s Irish presidential election and she has “a lot of reflecting to do”.

Momentum is building in public discourse about the possibility, with one recent poll putting her in the top three of potential next presidents, closely behind Mairead McGuinness and Michael McDowell.

“If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be,” she says. “I have to wonder if something up there is saying something that I should listen to.”

She insists she isn’t “actively seeking it” and hasn’t even reached the point where she can say she’s interested in running, but reveals that she was approached by one of the smaller parties last year.

“All I said was that I was open to the conversation.”

In an interview for The Irish News, the Senator reflects on the major turning points in her life, from her singing career to her election to the Seanad, and says: “Everything that’s happened to me, I’ve never planned.”

It’s the same with the presidency, and her openness to at least consider it came into the public domain after a recent newspaper interview about her Occupied Territories Bill.

“As the journalist was leaving, he just said what about the presidency,” says Frances. “All I said was I was up for the conversation and that became the headline. Then it spiralled.