Who is Mary Robinson?
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson (Irish: Máire Mhic Róibín; née Bourke; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who served as the seventh president of Ireland, holding the office from December 1990 to September 1997. She was the country's first female president. Robinson had previously served as a senator in Seanad Éireann from 1969 to 1989, and as a councillor on Dublin Corporation from 1979 to 1983. Although she had been briefly affiliated with the Labour Party during her time as a senator, she became the first independent candidate to win the presidency and the first not to have had the support of Fianna Fáil. Following her time as president, Robinson became the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002. Robinson is widely regarded as having had a transformative effect on Ireland, having successfully campaigned on several liberalising issues as a senator and as a lawyer. Robinson was involved in the decriminalisation of homosexuality, the legalisation ...
