Mary Robinson

Her Excellency Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson in March 2014
President of Ireland
In office 3 December 1990 – 12 September 1997
Taoiseach	Charles Haughey Albert Reynolds John Bruton Bertie Ahern
Preceded by	Patrick Hillery
Succeeded by	Mary McAleese
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
In office 12 September 1997 – 12 September 2002
Secretary-General	Kofi Annan
Preceded by	José Ayala Lasso
Succeeded by	Sérgio Vieira de Mello
Senator
In office 5 November 1969 – 5 July 1989
Preceded by	William Bedell Stanford
Succeeded by	Carmencita Hederman
Constituency	Dublin University
Personal details
Born	(1944-05-21) 21 May 1944 (age 80) Ballina, County Mayo
Political party	Independent (1969–1977, 1981–present)[1]
Other political affiliations	Labour Party (1977–1981)
Spouse(s)	Nicholas Robinson
Alma mater	Trinity College, Dublin Harvard Law School
Profession	Barrister Professor

Mary Robinson (Irish: Máire Mhic Róibín;[1] born 21 May 1944) was the first female President of Ireland, serving from 1990 to 1997. She had been an academic, barrister, and member of the Irish senate from 1969 to 1989.

She defeated Fianna Fáil's Brian Lenihan and Fine Gael's Austin Currie in the 1990 presidential election, the first time Fianna Fáil had lost a presidential election.^[2]

She resigned the presidency four months ahead of the end of her term of office to begin a five-year term in the United Nations, as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In 2002 Robinson became Honorary President of Oxfam International. She signed the Yogyakarta Principles in meeting of International Commission of Jurist and from 2008 to 2010 she was the predident of the International Commission of Jurists.

In 2018 Robinson became embroiled in the "proof of life" controversy surrounding "The Missing Princess"^[3](Latifa) the imprisoned daughter of the current Dubai ruler, Sheikh Maktoum. She had attended a lunch in Dubai, hosted by Latifa's step mother, Princess Haya the then, junior wife of Maktoum, in which Robinson appeared in staged photographs with Princess Latifa and publicly claimed that Latifa was being cared for by her loving family. In February 2021 Robinson retracted her former statement in a BBC Panorama broadcast,^[3] claiming that herself and Haya had both been misled and had been spun convincing and elaborate lies about Princess Latifa's alleged medical 'bipolar' history and condition.^[3]

1. ↑ Robinson stood as an independent presidential candidate but received support from the Labour Party and the Workers' Party.
2. ↑ "Elections Ireland: Presidential Elections". www.electionsireland.org.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Panorama - The Missing Princess, retrieved 2021-02-17