Mary Robinson

Mary Therese Winifred Robinson (Irish: Máire Mhic Róibín; née Bourke; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who served as the president of Ireland 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.

During her tenure as High Commissioner, she visited Tibet in 1998 (the first holder of the office to do so) and criticised Ireland's immigration policy and the use of capital punishment in the United States. She extended her intended single four-year term as High Commissioner by one year to preside over the World Conference against Racism 2001 in Durban, South Africa; the conference proved controversial due to a draft document which equated Zionism with racism. Robinson resigned her post in September 2002. After leaving the United Nations, Robinson formed Realizing Rights: the Ethical Globalization Initiative, which came to a planned end at the end of 2010.

Robinson also served as Chancellor of the University of Dublin from 1998 until 2019, and as Oxfam's honorary president from 2002 until she stepped down in 2012. She returned to live in Ireland at the end of 2010 and has since founded The Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice. Robinson continues to campaign globally on issues of civil rights. She has been the honorary president of the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) since 2005. She is a former Chair of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and is also a founding member and chair of the Council of Women World Leaders. She was a member of the European members of the Trilateral Commission.

Robinson's presidency is widely regarded as having a major 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 of contraception and divorce, enabling women to sit on juries, and securing the right to legal aid in civil legal cases in Ireland. Regularly polling approval ratings above 90%, approval of Robinson peaked at 93% among the Irish public, the highest rating of any Irish president.