Cycnos | Numéros | Volume 15.2 - Irlande - Exils

Résumé :

Mary Robinson was President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997. During that time, she tried to go on with the work she had done previously as a lawyer, namely to defend human rights, women and minorities. She also tried to reach out to the Irish population around the world, what she and her fellow citizens call the Diaspora. We will thus present the main battles Mary Robinson fought during her mandate, before introducing the dichotomy that stems from the unique status of the Irish Constitution, namely the duality between the electoral system and the role of the President. We will then attempt to precisely define the term diaspora, and try to find out in which political and social context the President uses it. By doing that, we will go back to the sources, the presidential speeches, and we will see how Mary Robinson handles the Irish emigration, and what personal use she makes of it, either when talking to her fellow citizens, or with people living outside the island.

Date de publication : 2008-07-09