MARY ROBINSON HAS said people need to “learn the lessons” of Irish history, including the Famine and mass emigration, as part of our response to immigration into the country.
Anti-migrant and anti-refugee protests have become commonplace in Ireland in recent months, with some turning violent.
In an interview with The Journal, Robinson, former Irish president and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said people should respond to migration in a thoughtful manner.
“We need to think more about what it is to be a migrant, and think more about our history, about the Irish Famine, about the many, many Irish who went to get a better life from poverty, from conflict, or maybe their sexual orientation,” she said.
She described migrants as “brave, courageous people” who often experience “terrible” things and sometimes put their lives at risk when trying to enter Europe or the United States.
"We need to think more about what it is to be a migrant, and think more about our history, about the Irish famine, about the many many Irish who went to get a better life"
— TheJournal.ie (@thejournal_ie) August 8, 2024
- Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson speaks to The Journal about attitudes towards migration. pic.twitter.com/iujkQHtkw4
“They try to get a better life, and then they send lots of money home to those who haven’t made it. So, we should welcome these talented, good people who’ve come looking for a better life.
“We need to talk more about changing our attitudes towards migrants, partly because it’s always been a phenomenon of movement of people in our world – and it’s going to increase with the climate and nature crisis.
“People will not be able to live in certain places because of drought, heat, flooding, whatever, islands going under, and they will have to move. And, you know, we’re anticipating the numbers will increase. So, let’s prepare ourselves more thoughtfully.”
Robinson co-founded The Elders, a group of global leaders advocating for justice, human rights and peace, alongside the late Nelson Mandela in 2007. She has served as its chairperson since 2018.
The Elders have been vocal on the need for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the provision of humanitarian aid. Around 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since last October.
Last month, The Elders called on “political leaders worldwide, and especially those with influence on Israel, to enforce the historic ruling by the International Court of Justice and bring an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory”.
During the interview with The Journal, Robinson said western countries like the US, a long-standing ally of Israel, need to do more to end the conflict.
She said bodies like the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice are “doing their work” in terms of helping bring about a ceasefire, but certain countries are not “respecting” this work.
“They’re not being properly respected by actually, on this occasion, Western countries, the United States in particular, and the United Kingdom to a certain extent under the previous government – and I think that’s changing, I’m glad to see.”
The UK’s new prime minister, Labour’s Keir Starmer, has called for a ceasefire and a two-state solution. The UK and US are among the countries which supply arms to Israel.
Robinson said it is “very important that we uphold the rule of law and the institutions that proclaim rule of law, and that we get rid of double standards”.
“I mean, people were delighted in the United States when [Russian President Vladimir] Putin was indicted by the International Criminal Court, but when it was [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, no, that couldn’t happen.”
She said if countries pick and choose which rulings to follow, this “undermines” the credibility of bodies like the ICC.
Robinson noted that The Elders have long called for a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and “a two-state solution that works”. She noted that “huge numbers” of Palestinians have been “detained without any trial process”.
The Israel-Hamas war was triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October which resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people. Militants seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 39 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,677 people to date.
Robinson became Ireland’s first female president in 1990. Her election was a watershed moment, signalling hard-fought progress in a country still hugely under the influence of the Catholic Church.
Her life is the subject of a new documentary, Mrs Robinson, by award-winning director Aoife Kelleher.
Robinson said she initially didn’t want to take part in the film, but her friend and former adviser Bride Rosney convinced her to do it.
“I didn’t really want to do the film. It was Bride Rosney who encouraged me and pushed me because she said, ‘You’ve had a very full life, people need inspiration’, and she’s right.”
Rosney, who sadly passed away last September, features in the documentary alongside a host of others such as Peter Gabriel, Richard Branson and Rosita Sweetman.
The film details the uphill battle and attacks Robinson faced as she fought to become president. Many people in Ireland still viewed a woman’s rightful place as in the home – not as a lawyer or politician, and certainly not as president.
Fianna Fáil’s Pádraig Flynn, then-Minister for the Environment, criticised Robinson during the campaign.
In an RTÉ interview at the time, he spoke about “her new clothes and her new look and her new hairdo” and implied she had found a “new interest in family, being a mother” for the purposes of being elected.
After much pushback, Flynn apologised. The documentary recalls how, when Robinson was elected, Rosney sent Flynn 40 red roses with a note reading, ‘Thank you from the women of Ireland’.
Robinson noted that much has indeed changed in Ireland in terms of women’s rights in the 34 years since she was elected president. However, some things have not changed as much as she would have liked.
“I think we have definitely made strides.
But, interestingly, we haven’t made strides in having women in the Dáil and Seanad in the numbers I would like, or in local authorities.
“And that in itself makes a difference. You know, it’s much better when you have a balance, and also in the Cabinet, when you have parity – 50% – that’s the ideal and I think that would reflect better decisions.”
Robinson said she hoped the documentary would inspire “young people, inspire women in particular, to reach their full potential to go into politics”.
However, she said she understands why people, especially women, choose not to enter politics.
“It’s much more difficult now because of social media, because of the anonymous dark side, the misogyny, the name calling, etc, and that’s very tough for women. I think we need to regulate that more because it disproportionately affects women. We need to deal with it.
“I’m all for freedom of expression, and that’s the balance we have to keep. But still, we have to get rid of the hate speech and the misogyny and the racism. I mean, that is not tolerable in society.”
Kelleher said discussions about the documentary first began in 2019 and “the bulk of the interviews with Mary were done during [the Covid-19] lockdown, which was its own challenge”.
She told The Journal she loved learning more about Robinson’s “pioneering” work as a lawyer and in the Seanad including on issues related to reproductive rights and the decriminalisation of homosexuality (which only happened in Ireland in 1993).
Kelleher recalled the impact Robinson’s election as president had on her as a girl.
“Suddenly so much that had seemed utterly impossible was now on the table, was now realistic and aspirational – whether that was for young girls, for diverse communities around Ireland, for members of the LGBTQ+ community.”
Kelleher, who previously directed One Million Dubliners and Growing Up Gay, said her new documentary both looks back and looks forward.
“For me, it’s about this moment of reflection, of all that has been achieved in Irish society over the past decades and how much of that coincides with work that Mary has done.
These battles that have been fought to move Ireland from what was ultimately a kind of theocracy to what we feel now is much more inclusive and progressive and tolerant.
However, she agreed that more progress is needed in certain areas.
“Irish politics, European politics, global politics, seems to be on a knife edge. What has been achieved? What has that meant for so many people, and what has to be done to protect that?”
The closing scenes of the documentary show Robinson back in her native Ballina, Co Mayo. She discusses the presidential museum which is due to open in her childhood home in the town.
Robinson brought the light which famously shone in the window of Áras an Uachtaráin, while she was president from 1990 to 1997, to the centre.
Recalling a conversation with US President Joe Biden when he visited Ireland last year, she said of the light: “It will shine for the values of human rights, for gender equality, of women’s leadership, of climate justice, of inclusiveness, of dignity.”
Plans to open the museum have been delayed due to funding issues. Robinson said she remains “very supportive” of the centre and “very much” hopes it will open soon.
In the documentary, Robinson said she is “very content to be back in this country and working globally from this country to try to further all my work on climate and with The Elders”.
Mrs Robinson, produced by Break Out Pictures, will be released in Irish cinemas on 23 August
Article contains reporting from © AFP 2024
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