Mary Robinson

Ireland’s former president, Mary Robinson [EPA]

Mary Robinson was the first female president of Ireland, serving from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002.

 

Born to a family of doctors, Mary Robinson, traces her roots to both rebels and servants of the Crown. She attended Dublin’s Trinity College – unheard of for a Catholic – and defied her parents’ wishes by marrying a Protestant.

 

In 1990 she was elected president of Ireland and is credited as having revitalised and liberalised a previously conservative and largely ceremonial office.

 

Robinson stepped down four months before her term ended to become the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights – a cause she is extremely passionate about.

 

Her newest project is Realising Rights: the Ethical Globalisation Initiative. Outspoken on issues of contraception and Gay and Lesbian rights, as well as the role of the Church, Robinson continues to be an important symbol for Ireland’s growing success.