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Doctor of Laws Yale University Honorary Degree President Mary Robinson 26 MAY, 1997

Doctor of Laws Yale University Honorary Degree President Mary Robinson 26 MAY, 1997

MARY ROBINSON is known as the voice of the New Ireland in her homeland. Since the l970 's, she has been at the center of Irelands major contemporary social and political issues - divorce, contraception, abortion information, decriminalization of homosexuality - pressing for a liberalization of laws with courage and compassion. In the process she has contributed to the emergence of Ireland as a modern country with a progressive outlook and the fastest growing economy in Europe.

President Robinson was born Mary Bourke to two physicians in County Mayo in northwestern Ireland, the only daughter among five children. After studying law at Trinity College in Dublin, she attended Harvard Law School on a one-year fellowship during the l967-68 Academic year. By her own account, watching the United States openly question its values over the Vietnam War and civil rights reinforced her belief that individuals can bring about meaningful reform. She returned to Ireland and at age 24 joined the Trinity law faculty, becoming the youngest professor in the universitys history. Almost immediately she began to lobby for womens rights, drawing on her skill as a constitutional lawyer and earning her a reputation as one of Irelands most effective barristers. When the Labour Party approached her to run for the largely ceremonial post of president in 1990, she reluctantly agreed, viewing the campaign and its likely negative outcome as a chance to publicize issues that might improve the lives of Irish people. President Robinson has gone on to draw more than a 90 percent approval rating at home and win widespread respect from abroad as well. Among many firsts, she is the first female president of Ireland, the first Irish president to officially visit Britain, and the first head of state to tour Somalia and direct worldwide attention to that troubled area.