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During her visit to our city, Robinson graciously agreed to find time in her busy schedule to join the IWN for breakfast at 7 AM, on the morning prior to her departure for a return visit to Ireland and further meetings with other human rights advocates in Europe.
The daughter of two physicians, Mary Robinson was born in Ballina, County Mayo in 1944. She was educated at the University of Dublin (Trinity College), King’s Inns Dublin and Harvard Law School to which she won a fellowship in 1967. During the course of her career, she has received numerous awards and last year, TIME magazine named her a “Hero & Icon” and one of the top 100 influential leaders of 2005. In Vancouver, she was warmly welcomed by IWN founding member Mary Hatch, who was inspired by Mary Robinson’s vision of connecting the homeland with the Irish diaspora. At her inauguration speech in 1990, President Robinson announced that she would place a candle in the window of her official residence in Dublin, Áras an Uachtaráin, to guide the souls of the Irish diaspora on their homeward journey. It was a powerful symbol that spoke to the millions of Irish scattered throughout the world. This was the first woman to become President of Ireland and she reached out to the global Irish family in a way that had never been done before and the response was staggering. Although the government at home in Ireland had still not caught on to the importance of connecting with the international Irish community, they would soon come to realize the value of this initiative in countless ways ranging from tourism, to economic investment, to the Irish peace process. Robinson spoke to members of the IWN about her term as President of Ireland and some of her achievements during that period along with some of the challenges. She is a woman of great charm with a strong sense of humour and in her current endeavours, she continues to reflect the same genuine warmth, passion and care which she brought to the office of President. Following her departure as President, Robinson became the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002). Robinson is currently based in New York City and leading a new project called the Ethical Globalization Initiative (EGI). EGI was founded by Mary Robinson and its supporters include Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu and Musimbi Kanyoro. Its main objective is to address three urgent issues required for greater human development and security: fostering more equitable international trade and development; strengthening responses to HIV/AIDS in Africa; and shaping more humane migration policies. For more information about EGI, visit their website at: www.realizingrights.org * The following is an excerpt of the text of Mary Hatch’s welcome to Mary Robinson on behalf of the Irish Women’s Network: Mná na hÉireann, Mary Robinson, is a woman who inspires. In 1990, she inspired a whole nation with almost unshakable voting habits to forego those habits to not treat the job of President of Ireland as a thank-you present to a retired politician, but to award it instead to someone who was going to be an active and working President. To give it to a candidate proposed by the Labour Party, a party that never got more than about 10 percent of the vote and, most unthinkable of all, to give the job to a woman. On April 8 1990, the Irish Press announced: “There will be a woman candidate for the Park for the first time since the institution of the presidency was established. Very much the outsider, Mrs. Robinson will be aiming at a good showing, as she has no realistic chance of winning out at the end of the day.” On November 9 1990, Mary Robinson was elected President of Ireland with a majority of 86,557 votes. In doing so, she didn’t just break the mould of Irish politics; she recast it. In the Presidential election following the end of her term of office, most of the parties fielded a woman candidate; and most of those women were called Mary. If her inspiration gave a new image to the presidency, Mary Robinson also inspired us to look afresh at how we saw ourselves. Ireland’s new image, both at home and abroad, was suddenly young, vibrant, bright, and caring. The image of Ireland that she inspired and projected around the world was certainly a contributing factor in the unexpected and unprecedented take-off of the Irish economy that came to be known as the Celtic Tiger. As Mary Robinson began her term of office as President of Ireland, reaching out to Irish people around the world, I had no intention or expectation of ever being an emigrant myself. But I was moved by her reaching out to our emigrants, and particularly so by her light in the window at the Áras, and by her inauguration speech when she said, “I am not just a President of those here today but of those who cannot be here; and there will always be a light on in Áras an Uachtaráin for our exiles and our emigrants.” However, just a few short months later, on a bright, sunny, Easter Sunday that was the 75th anniversary of the Rising, I stood in O’Connell Street and listened to our President read the Proclamation. At my side was the man who was shortly to be my husband and who would bring me to Vancouver. As I looked at the tricolour fluttering against a sunny sky over the GPO, I already felt the pangs of parting from my native land. On May 16, 1991 (15 years ago yesterday!) I became an emigrant. In moments of loneliness, I often thought longingly of the light in Mary Robinson’s kitchen window, and wished that I was in the Phoenix Park looking at it. I knew nobody in this place, let alone anyone Irish. Phone calls home were $1.20 a minute (now I can talk to my sister for half an hour for $1.20). Back then, the Irish Times was 10 days old by the time it got here. There was no Internet, no e-mail, and letters took almost two weeks to make the journey between Vancouver and Dublin. Then came the Internet, and I could read my precious Irish Times even before it hit the streets in Dublin. I will always remember the day when, having found Mary Robinson’s address to the Oireachtas, “Cherishing the Irish Diaspora,” I sat alone at a table in the cafeteria at the community college where I worked, reading and rereading her words. I cried when I read of her joy at finding The Western People in Boston. I cried more, for myself and for my parents, when I read her words: “the shadow of departure will never be lifted. The grief of seeing a child or other family member leave Ireland will always remain sharp and the absence will never be easy to bear.” My heart was full when I thought of our President urging the government to cherish its emigrants. I believed, though, that it was unrealistic to expect a government that had a country to run to do anything that would alleviate our sense of loss and separation. The only indication I had of other Irish people here was when I discovered Maura McCay’s recently launched newspaper, The Celtic Connection. It was through this newspaper that I eventually found the Ireland Canada Chamber of Commerce. When I first walked into one of their functions, about four years after I got here, I felt as if I had found an oasis in the desert: Irish voices, Irish conversation, Irish laughter. My years on the Board of the Chamber were good ones but, while I met many Irish people, it wasn’t quite what I needed. I also sensed that it wasn’t meeting the needs of other Irish women I befriended. I wanted a group where women could just be Irish together, to get together for conversation, companionship, and mutual support. I also had an ulterior motive: I wanted to be able to celebrate that uniquely Irish women’s event, Nollaig na mBan. At the end of 1997, I got a few women together to talk about it – Deirdre O’Ruairc, Ann Carr, and Patricia Jarvis, and they were encouraging, as was my good friend Marie Morris. At Anne-Marie Rowley’s suggestion, I spoke to Burnaby Public Library who gave us a meeting room free of charge monthly over the next couple of years. In our first year, we celebrated Nollaig na mBan, established a Woman of the Year award at our anniversary dinner (initiated by Deirdre O’Ruairc), and held a golf tournament. These immediately became regular events in our calendar. Over the years, we added an annual fundraising event for the Celtic Society, a charity founded by Maura McCay, our participation in the Vancouver St. Patrick’s Day parade, and representing Ireland at the European Festival each May. We also have a book club – two book clubs, in fact. A few moments ago I said I thought it was unrealistic to expect the Irish Government to reach out to the Diaspora when there are so many of us and they have a country to run. Well, clearly I underestimated what an Irish Government will do when it has been inspired by Mary Robinson. Just last week, the Irish Women’s Network, had a letter from the Taoiseach. The subject of the letter is the 1916 Rising and the Irish Diaspora, and it refers to key players in that momentous event who had been emigrants: Tom Clarke, James Connolly, Éamon de Valera and Michael Collins. The letter included the following news: “the Government has undertaken a series of substantial follow-up steps to enhance our support for and outreach to the Irish abroad, including the establishment of a dedicated and well-funded Irish Abroad Unit within the Department of Foreign Affairs. “Against this background, I believe it particularly important that our official commemoration of the 1916 Rising should be shared with our people overseas. This is the inspiration behind this booklet and its circulation. I take great pride in sending it to the organisations that represent the Irish diaspora. “It is a reflection of our esteem, support and solidarity, of our keen awareness that the Irish abroad are a treasured part of the Irish family, and of our strong view that significant events at home should be fully shared with our people abroad.” The letter is signed Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach. We all know that, without Mary Robinson’s inspiration, this letter would not have been written, and the Irish Abroad Unit would not exist. We wish her well in her courageous undertakings, and are confident that she has the support of Irish people around the world – all 70 million of us owe her that much at least.
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