First Female President of Ireland to Speak at Monmouth

On Tuesday, April 5, Monmouth University will have a very special guest come to speak on campus, as Mary Robinson, Ireland’s first female president, will be giving a very important guest lecture. 

This speech will be part of Monmouth University’s 10th Annual Institute for Global Understanding Convention, which will be held from April 4 until April 8. This year’s particular convention is called “One World, One Humanity: Creating Our Common Future.”

President Robinson will be giving the keynote address for the convention. Not only is she Ireland’s first woman president, but she is also the former United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights.

She served as president of Ireland from 1990 until 1997. Other illustrious positions she has held include her being the Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders, serving as Chancellor of the University of Dublin, and also being a member of the Elders, which is a group of world leaders organized by Nelson Mandela that works on spreading peace throughout the world. In 2009, President Robinson was awarded with the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Recently, President Robinson was appointed to serve on the United Nations Global Compact Board, a group of 20 global business, labor and social leaders that are working together to advance universal business principles in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption. 

She currently resides in Ireland, where she leads the Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice. According to this organization’s website, www.mrfcj.org, this group is “a centre for thought leadership, education and advocacy on the struggle to secure global justice for those many victims of climate change who are usually forgotten - the poor, the disempowered and the marginalised across the world.”

Her keynote address is entitled “Hard Times, Human Rights and our Common Future.” Subjects that will be broached during this lecture will include enterprise and ethical globalization, making human rights the compass for all ethical globalization, a woman leading the world, and corporate social responsibility. 

President Robinson’s speech will be from 6 to 7:15 p.m. at Wilson Hall at Monmouth University. The address, supported by the 2011 Jack and Lewis Rudin Distinguished Speakers Lecture Series, is free for anyone who would like to attend.

To RSVP for this event, please e-mail igu@monmouth.edu or call 732-923-4666.