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I was elected by the women of Ireland, who instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system.

Mary Robinson

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Mary Robinson
Age: 80
Born: 1944
Born: May 21
Barrister
Feminist
Former President Of Ireland
Jurist
Politician
University Teacher
Ballina
County Mayo
Máire Bean Mhic Róibín
Mary Bourke
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Bourke
Maire Bean Mhic Roibin
Máire Mhic Róibín
Máire Treasa Úna Mhic Róibín
Her Excellency Mary Robinson
Cradle
Ireland
Elected
Instead
System
Politics
Women
Rocked
Rocking

More quotes by Mary Robinson

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An endless war against terrorism can tend to inflate the terrorists, because being at war is attractive to some angry, unemployed, disaffected youth.
Mary Robinson
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I'm a very wide reader. I read serious books and I read airplane, forgettable books. I never have fewer than four or five books beside my bed at night. I particularly enjoy reading about people who have gone through a personal growth.
Mary Robinson
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Thanks to the European Union, Ireland has a much more open climate of discussion and debate, as you can see in the media. It means that we are a more questioning society, perhaps more honestly prepared to address serious issues and problems, more open to the idea that different viewpoints should be heard and respected.
Mary Robinson
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It is necessary to ensure that the requirement to combat terrorism is not used to clamp down on freedom of expression, legitimate dissent, freedom of association and so on.
Mary Robinson
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The fifth province is not anywhere here or there, north or south, east or west. It is a place within each of us. It is that place that is open to the other, that swinging door which allows us to venture out and others to venture in.
Mary Robinson
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Many people today in the developed countries are so far removed from poverty and suffering and starvation that they lack empathy for the sufferings of others.
Mary Robinson
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The whole human rights structure is based on the accountability of governments.
Mary Robinson
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We will not let governments off the hook. We will look to civil society to help us, to pin governments, to what they have committed to here. And we will report on it.
Mary Robinson
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One of the richest countries in the world - the United States of America - is facing a real ethical dilemma in terms of providing equitable access to health care.
Mary Robinson
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I want to take human rights out of their box. I want to show the relevance of the universal principles of human rights to the basic needs of health, security, education and equality.
Mary Robinson
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In general, I don't think that economic, social and cultural rights are primarily a matter of going to court. They are most useful today as commitments which can help ensure effective and equitable policy-making at every level.
Mary Robinson
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Membership in the European Community, now the European Union, has helped Ireland to take its place as a European country with all the member states, including Britain. It has therefore helped the maturing of a good bilateral relationship with Britain, lifting part of the burden of history.
Mary Robinson
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Climate change is the greatest threat to human rights in the 21st century.
Mary Robinson
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Sharing experience and building public support for the full range of rights is more powerful than legal cases.
Mary Robinson
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Today's human rights violations are the causes of tomorrow's conflicts.
Mary Robinson
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It's only after their death that people are truly appreciated. It's because they are true to values.
Mary Robinson
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The structures of the WTO need to be reformed to increase participation. There must be a greater sense of shared ownership of the substance of the trade negotiation agenda. Decisions about issues to be negotiated, and in which sequence they should be taken, should rest with all WTO members, not only the most powerful.
Mary Robinson
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Freedom from discrimination for women, ensuring that female children can learn to read, these are human needs for half the human race, not western values.
Mary Robinson
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As a citizen of Ireland I have more sovereignty over our government. Because citizens now have more ways of holding the Irish government to account, not just under Irish constitutional law, but under the European system, at Strasbourg and Brussels. This, I believe, is the benefit for individual citizens.
Mary Robinson
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Finance ministers must realize that the health budget can save them money if it's applied well.
Mary Robinson