Page 33


Mary Robinson | INTERVIEW


(...Continued from page 32) graduated, US presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy was assassinated. Many of her contemporaries went into the civil rights movement. Mrs Robinson returned to Ireland and, inspired by the sense that young peoples' voices should be heard, stood for election to the Seanad at just 25. She began what has become a lifelong campaign to instil a sense of human morality into the legal and political processes. She also began to learn that such passion, while inspiring many, would also attract critics. And not everyone was as fearless. When she introduced the first bill proposing to liberalise the law on contraception, no other member would agree to second the initiative and it was never discussed.

But she talks now of a sense of camaraderie among women politicians at the time. They would meet regularly to discuss issues of concern. “I had a good relationship with all these women,” she says. “Each of us was breaking down barriers.”

She was elected to Dublin City Council in 1979 and served there for many years, but it was in 1990 that she made history by becoming the first woman to be elected as President of Ireland. Her victory was seen as ushering in a new age of enlightenment in Ireland. She bought a remarkable energy to the role, reaching out to a variety of groups often shunned by broader Irish society. She placed a candle in a window of the official residence, Áras an Uachtaráin, to remember Irish emigrants worldwide. She was popular with the public and won the admiration of many of her former critics.

She visited Rwanda in the aftermath of the African state’s horrific civil war. When she spoke afterwards of the suffering she encountered, she was visibly distressed. To many, it was a speech that remains etched on our collective memories – emotional, eloquent and profoundly moving.

In 1997, she became UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Towards the end of her tenure, she became a vocal critic of the US Government’s violation of human rights in its ‘war on terror’. She resigned her position in 2002.

Since then Dr Robinson founded the organisation ‘Realising Rights’, received countless awards, and serves on several high profile international committees. In 2007 she joined the influential group ‘The Elders’ which includes Nelson Mandela LL.D. (h.c.) (2000) and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, among others. Their aim is to contribute their wisdom and experience to tackling world problems. With so much going on, she has had less time to devote to her role as Chancellor of Trinity than she would like, she admits. “I’m very committed and honoured to have the role,” she says. “Trinity has grown so much since I was a student: when I’m conferring the graduate degrees I see how it is so much more diverse and the gender balance has radically improved across nearly all disciplines.”

What advice has the former President and UN High Commissioner for young people experiencing, for the first time, a country in recession?

“I am very reluctant to give advice,” she says, wisely. “I realise it is tough at the moment. I am based in New York and there is so much get up and go here. People have this attitude of ‘yes, there are problems but we need to focus on how to solve them’. Everybody reinvents themselves, they are determined to find solutions. I can’t over emphasise how important that is.”

“We can not allow ourselves to wallow in dependency. We must be energised for change. Look at what we have achieved. Our peace process is admired around the world.”

As regards her own plans, Dr Robinson will be moving back to Ireland towards the end of next year. Her current passion is the impact of climate change on developing countries. “The profligate use of resources is severely affecting some parts of the world. I’ve been to Africa and, because of climate change, they don’t know when to sow or whether there is going to be flooding or drought. This, in areas where people have been correctly predicting the weather for more than 200 years! They are shocked and dismayed and impoverished. People have a right to develop out of poverty.”

Dr Robinson’s passion for justice is undimmed. Her mission now is to find alternative energy technologies to tackle these issues. She is consulting widely on the subject, she says. “There is a pragmatic aspect to this too. There will be lots of jobs for Ireland in this area,” she adds.

Dr Robinson’s return to Ireland will also allow her to play a more hands-on role in Trinity’s development. Trinity’s current students are the pool from which a new generation of passionate, articulate and determined campaigners will emerge.

Like the US President she met recently, she has broken down a great many barriers.

www.realizingrights.org

"Everybody reinvents themselves,they are determined to find solutions. I can’t over emphasise how important that is"

(Photo captioned: Mary Robinson visiting camps in Goma, Congo earlier this year)


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