Latest news with #MaryRobinson
Irish Times
26-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Parties' selection of candidates for Presidential election becoming a late late show
By the end of May 1990, Mary Robinson had already been endorsed as the formal Labour and Workers' Party candidate for the presidential election in November of that year. By contrast, coming into the last week of May 2025, just two independent candidates have declared they will seek to contest this year's November election: the Donegal businessman Peter Casey and the MMA fighter Conor McGregor. While many names have been bandied around, political parties are only entering the foothills of their preparations. There has been a lot of shadowboxing and speculation, but little real movement so farto begin the process of choosing preferred candidates. The pattern of when presidential candidates are announced is not consistent. In 1997, the identities of all six candidates were not revealed until late September. When Robinson stood in 1990, the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael candidates, Brian Lenihan and Austin Currie, were not put forward until mid-September. READ MORE In 2011, the last presidential election where an incumbent wasn't a candidate, most of the runners declared early. David Norris, the early favourite, announced his candidacy that January. The eventual winner, Michael D Higgins, was officially endorsed by Labour in June; Fine Gael's Gay Mitchell in July. By then, two Independent candidates, Mary Davis and Seán Gallagher, had also declared. Bertie Ahern and former minister Mary Hanafin have been mentioned, but colleagues are concerned about their association with the era of economic collapse What is evident this year is that the bigger parties are holding back. It looks very much like it could be late summer or September when they, and a combination of parties on the left, finalise their candidates. Part of the waiting game is strategic. 'If we are running a candidate, we should not aim to have everything ready to go until early September,' says a senior Fianna Fáil source. The other reason for tarrying is intrinsic to what the Fianna Fáiler has just said. The question the party has to put to itself is whether or not it runs a candidate at all. The last time there was an official Fianna Fáil candidate was 28 years ago in 1997, when Mary McAleese was its candidate. Sinn Féin faces the same quandary for different reasons. It had a dismal presidential election campaign in 2018, with its candidate Liadh Ní Riada receiving only 6.4 per cent of the vote, well below her party's support levels. Richard Moore is a political communications adviser with direct experience of two presidential campaigns, those of Gay Mitchell in 2011 and Gavin Duffy in 2018. He says the first crucial decision for all the parties is whether they will even go to the starting line. 'Will the party be willing to run a candidate and burn €500,000 on a campaign? There's a risk there unless they are satisfied that their candidate will outperform the party's support (levels),' he says. At this moment, only one party, Fine Gael, is certain to run its own candidate. Its executive council said this week that it will 'decide in the coming weeks the timeline and process for the selection of a Fine Gael candidate for the forthcoming presidential election'. The names of two prominent party members – Mairéad McGuinness and Seán Kelly – are frequently mentioned. Party grandee Heather Humphreys this week announced she will not put her name forward. The probable candidate is the former EU Commissioner McGuinness, who also sought a nomination in 2011. And what of Fianna Fáil? When you speak to its TDs, there are mixed views. Some point to the lack of an obvious candidate. 'I don't think there is any benefit in us contesting the election,' says one Minister of State bluntly. Theirs is a minority view, however. Another TD argued that Fianna Fáil, as the largest party, should run a candidate, but that finding one will be difficult. There are many nuances. The electorate can switch very quickly to another candidate if you say something that is controversial or make a mistake Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern and former minister Mary Hanafin have been mentioned, but colleagues are concerned about their association with the era of economic collapse, which caused huge reputational damage to the party. Either could face uncomfortable questioning during a campaign that is often fractious and quite personalised. Former ceann comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl, who is respected across party lines, has been mentioned but he quickly dismissed the prospect. 'Not in a million years, not under any circumstances,' he said. 'It's for not me. It's not where I want to be.' So where should Fianna Fáil go? Ó Fearghaíl expresses a view that is shared by many of his colleagues: 'I do think the party should run a candidate, but it may need to look outside the fold to find somebody.' That somebody would not be the Fine Gael candidate, whoever emerges. 'We can't ask our supporters to vote for Fine Gael,' said a Dublin Fianna Fáil TD. 'I just don't see many of them voting that way in the first instance.' But as yet, no high-profile person has yet been identified or targeted by the party. An outside candidate is the route down which Sinn Féin might ultimately go. It has been seeking internal feedback this month, with a letter sent to the membership asking them to become involved in a process that would 'help inform the leadership on the proposed route forward in relation to the upcoming Presidential Election'. Earlier this year, the party's MP for North Belfast, John Finucane, was mentioned as a possibility, but the party seems to have cooled on that idea. Sinn Féin has been involved in talks with the Social Democrats, Labour, People Before Profit and the Green Party on exploring a possible consensus left-wing candidate. Several names have been mentioned: Senator Frances Black, SDLP leader Claire Hanna and Independent TD Catherine Connolly. In mid-May, Dr Mike Ryan, former deputy director of the World Health Organisation, became the latest well-known figure to be targeted by political parties for a potential presidential run. It is understood he has not been approached and has not considered the question as he is taking some time off. Another potential big-beast candidate, Independent Senator Michael McDowell, has ruled himself out. The former minister for justice told The Irish Times: 'I'm not going to run.' He said he has come to the conclusion that the Upper House is the place where he could most usefully serve. For Moore, the election is never about parties, or policies, or issues, it's about the qualities that mark out the best candidate. 'The tribal loyalty towards parties is well and truly shot,' he says. 'My own view is that it ended with Brian Lenihan in 1990 (when the Fianna Fáil candidate was caught out in a lie that put paid to his campaign, over his attempt to persuade president Patrick Hillery not to dissolve the Dáil back in 1982). 'The Irish electorate is sophisticated and understands politics. They want somebody as President who will be presentable and not let the country down. 'The candidate has to be authentic and genuine and be able to show their qualities in the heat of the battle and under fierce media scrutiny.' Will the party be willing to run a candidate and burn €500,000 on a campaign? There's a risk there unless they are satisfied that their candidate will outperform the party's support There are a litany of candidates who started off as favourites and became also-rans during the course of bruising and intrusive campaigns: Brian Lenihan, Adi Roche, Mary Davis, David Norris and Seán Gallagher. 'On the face of it, it looks like a simple election,' adds Moore. 'There are many nuances. The electorate can switch very quickly to another candidate if you say something that is controversial or make a mistake. 'It's a much more difficult election than a general election in my view.' There is no hard and fast rule on the optimum time to declare. Several interviewees remarked that the name of the next President has not even entered the public domain yet. For observers like Moore, however, that should take place sooner rather than later. 'In September, you run the risk of leaving it too late unless you have a superstar. Sure, the campaign will be short and sharp for all candidates, but you need to have a profile established before that,' he says.
Irish Times
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Bono defends decision to accept medal of freedom from Joe Biden
Bono has defended his decision to accept the US Presidential Medal of Freedom from Joe Biden earlier this year, insisting he took it on behalf of people who do not receive honours such as activists losing their lives in Gaza . The U2 singer received the highest civilian honour the US has to offer in January, becoming the first Irish recipient since former president Mary Robinson in 2009. However, Bono was criticised by some for accepting the award from an administration that was giving military backing to Israel at a time when thousands of Palestinians were being killed . He questioned why anyone would think he was 'not shocked and appalled by what is going on in Gaza' and happening to the children living there. READ MORE 'It's such a strange thing, this competitive empathy that's going around: 'I feel this wound more than you, and my emergency is more important than your emergency'.' [ Bono calls for end to war in Gaza as U2 perform Sunday Bloody Sunday at Ivor Novello awards Opens in new window ] In an interview with RTÉ's Brendan O'Connor show, Bono said he had been an activist for 25 years and was grateful that people have high expectations of him. He said: 'When I was younger I had a lot of rage. Yes. And outrage in some respects was enough to write a certain kind of song. As I got older I demanded more of myself. I looked towards outcome,' he said. Bono said as he matured he became 'the most boring of things – a single issue protagonist'. 'It might be bewildering but I was trying not to speak about stuff that I didn't really understand. And even my understanding of development issues has decreased as I have gotten closer and closer to the music,' he said. 'I used to really know what I was talking about when I was going into those meetings. So I was involved and am involved in all of that. And I can't get the realpolitik of the situation that Joe Biden found himself in.' He said he accepted the medal on behalf of activists and people who are getting killed in Gaza. [ Israeli use of Palestinian human shields in Gaza is widespread, detainees say Opens in new window ] 'The activists, the people who are getting killed now in Gaza. And I sat beside José Andrés (Spanish chef who founded the Global Food Institute). And he had lost people he felt who were deliberately targeted (in Gaza). And yet he was going up to say thank you to the American people for their support of World Central Kitchen. He was very emotional about the loss of his people.' The World Central Kitchen aid convoy attack took place on April 1st, 2024, when Israeli drones targeted a three car convoy belonging to the organisation in the Gaza Strip, killing seven aid workers. The workers had been overseeing the transfer of a shipment of food to a warehouse in the northern Gaza Strip. Bono spoke of his enormous respect for Mr Biden, who he said he had worked with for 25 years on issues such as increasing aid flows, dropping debt for impoverished countries and improving access to antiretroviral drugs. 'This is a man I have deep respect for and a real relationship with.' He said he was used to criticism having been 'egged and all the rest of it' for standing beside George W Bush as part of his work combating Aids at a time when the Republican US president had ordered the invasion of Iraq. Bono stressed that the reality is that millions of people are still alive because of funds that the US government put in to the US Emergency Fund for Aids. U2 reunited in London this week to receive the Fellowship of the Ivor's Academy award, the institution's highest honour. At the ceremony Bono criticised Hamas, Binyamin Netanyahu and 'far-right fundamentalists' in Israel.
Agriland
21-05-2025
- Science
- Agriland
Mary Robinson Climate and Nature Conference returns next week
The Mary Robinson Climate and Nature Conference, now in its third year, is set to take place in Co. Mayo again next week. The event is being jointly organised by the Mary Robinson Centre University of Galway and Mayo County Council. The conference will bring together climate justice advocates, scientists, activists, community groups and policymakers to address local, national and global challenges and opportunities in relation to climate justice and nature conservation. The annual conference, with a theme of 'Courage in Crisis', will take place in Ballina on May 26 and 27 where the former president grew up, and where the new Mary Robinson Centre is located. Mary Robinson Image: Mary Robinson Centre Mary Robinson said that the conference will 'centre on a call to courage in the face of the climate and nature crisis, a crisis that touches every part of our shared world'. 'In these urgent times, it is through meitheal, the Irish tradition of coming together in collective effort, that we find strength, purpose and hope. 'Only by standing together can we meet this moment with the boldness it demands. I'm looking forward to being in community in my hometown of Ballina, imagining together what each of us can do to build a better future,' she said. Climate and Nature Conference Along with Mary Robinson, the conference will feature a distinguished lineup of Irish and international speakers. These include Dr. Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, Dublin City University (DCU); Anja Murray, ecologist, policy analyst, broadcaster and author; Dearbhla Richardson, youth climate justice activist; and Dr. Elaine McGoff, An Taisce. The event will also be addressed by Dr. Gerard McCarthy, physical oceanographer and climate scientist; Prof. Hannah Daly, University College Cork (UCC); Prof. John Barry, Queens University Belfast; Prof. Navjot Bhullar, University of Canberra, Australia; and Tom Arnold, Ireland Africa Rural Development Committee. Dr. Caitríona Carlin from the School of Natural Sciences and Ryan Institute at University of Galway and conference co-chair, said: 'It was uplifting to hear Mary Robinson recognise the interconnections between climate and biodiversity, when she changed the name of the conference to climate and nature in 2024. 'This is the first year that the conference formally addresses climate and nature and we are grateful to the funders and sponsors who have supported us. 'The conference enables us to acknowledge that actions for climate, for nature are also for us. We are part of the environment, and in finding common ground, we can make space for courageous conversations and actions to meet the multiple challenges ahead.' Events The conference will feature workshops, panel discussions, walks, music, and art, and aims to create space for people to connect, share ideas, and collaborate, with several of the conference events open to the public. Dr. Sinéad Sheehan, of the School of Psychology and Ryan Institute, University of Galway and conference co-chair, said that there is an extensive programme of events planned. These events include an art exhibition at the Mary Robinson Centre, a 'Connecting With Trees' walk in Belleek Woods on Sunday, and an eco-gathering on Tuesday featuring groups working on climate and nature. Young artists aged 6 to 24 years are being asked to imagine and design their own urban farm as part of a competition being run alongside the conference. 'We're also looking forward to a special 'Oíche Cultúr agus Craic' on Monday night with music, poetry and storytelling – it should be a brilliant few days for Ballina and the wider community,' Dr Sheehan said. Dr. Alma Clavin, lecturer in Sustainability at University of Galway and conference co-chair, said the conference 'creates a necessary courageous space for those activated in climate and nature work to connect with each other and new ideas'. Dr. Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, keynote speaker at the conference. said she was 'truly honoured and excited to be invited to speak' at the Mary Robinson Climate and Nature conference in her home county of Mayo. 'There are wonderful examples of nature being valued and protected across the county and I look forward to referencing these as positive stories of community impact. 'Mary Robinson has been such a wonderful role model for people across the world and it is a privilege to contribute to this conference celebrating her work and encouraging others to take on her message of urgency and hope with regards to climate and the environment,' she said. Another keynote speaker, Prof. Hannah Daly said: 'For decades, Mary Robinson has foregrounded the voices of those most affected by the climate crisis, bringing a moral urgency to global audiences like no other leader. It is a great privilege and honour to give a keynote address at this conference.'
Morocco World
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Morocco World
Irish Film Festival Returns to Rabat with Stories by Women Filmmakers
Rabat – The Embassy of Ireland in Rabat has announced the return of the Irish Film Festival for its second edition. The event will take place from May 19 to 21 at Cinéma Renaissance in Rabat and is organized in partnership with Fondation Hiba. The festival features three Irish films, all made by Irish women filmmakers. 'This year's festival showcases a captivating selection of Irish films, featuring a heartfelt drama, lyrical storytelling, and an inspiring documentary, all directed, written or produced by Irish women filmmakers,' the embassy said in a press statement. The festival will give Moroccan audiences a chance to discover Ireland through cinema. The embassy noted that all films will have French subtitles to make them accessible to a wider audience. The festival will kick off on May 19 with 'Róise & Frank,' a 2022 warm and funny Irish-language drama about hope, healing, and the deep bond between people and animals. The second day will feature 'That They May Face the Rising Sun,' a 2023 quiet and emotional story set in rural Ireland, based on the famous novel by John McGahern. The last day of the festival will feature 'Mrs. Robinson', a powerful documentary about Mary Robinson, Ireland's first female president and a leader in politics and women's rights. The Irish Film Festival is part of a series of cultural events planned to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between Ireland and Morocco. The embassy noted that entry is free for all screenings, which will kick off at 6:30 p.m. local time throughout the three days. Tags: Film FestivalIreland
Irish Examiner
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Esther McCarthy: How I ruined a man's favourite dessert forever during my work experience
Lifeguard, lab technician, maritime engineer. Three jobs my eldest fella tried out recently as part of his transition year work experience. A week in each job, all with fabulous support and kind staff members helping him out, showing him patience, camaraderie, and the ropes. We're talking about how he got on, things he liked, careers he could imagine himself in. 'The main thing is you didn't make an eegit of yourself,' the youngest observes, sagely. 'Well, gather around, my children,' I coo to them softly, expanding my arms as I usher them to me. 'For I shall tell you a tale of my own work experience. The year is 1993, Mary Robinson is president, Niamh Kavanagh makes magic in Millstreet winning the Eurovision Song Contest, Prince changes his name to an unpronounceable symbol, to get out of a contract with his record label and I've finally saved up enough to buy my own bottle of White Musk...' Nah, I've lost them. They've wandered off, careful not to make eye contact. I didn't know a teenage boy could simultaneously keep his head down and roll their eyes at the same time. He looks like he's one of the precogs from Minority Report having a vision of a really boring pre-crime. ' Super Mario Kart is first released in Europe!' I shout after them, but it's too late. One's playing Clash of Clans, the other's twacking a sliothar off the wall over the sofa, BECAUSE THERE'S NO WALLS OUTSIDE HE COULD BE MARKING, and the other one's drawing a fairly terrifying yet incongruous demon duck from Five Nights at Freddy's. He's got the haunted eyes bang on, in fairness. The bill needs work, though. I bristle at the unfairness. I listen to their garbage all day long! And feign interest. Mostly. The lousy ingrates. The dog is still listening though, head half cocked, although he possibly misheard 'work' as 'walk'. He's a small bit thick, the poor fella. My work experience was two weeks in a small Italian-style restaurant in the middle of Cork city. It's long closed now, but I swear it had nothing to do with me. I was 15, and seriously clueless. We didn't do eating out much as a family. Mam made all the dinners, mostly meat, poppies, and two veg and what more would you want? A chicken Maryland in the Owenahincha Hotel was about as much experience I got as a punter in a restaurant, and after getting over the shock of biting into a battered pineapple slice, mam's bacon and cabbage was good enough for me. So I was slightly aghast when they put me out on the floor waitressing the first day of my work experience. But fake it till you make it was my kinda buzz back then so I flounced around throwing a few Mamma Mias around the place, and I put a pen behind my ear, because it made me feel bossy and busy. I was getting in the flow by the end of the first lunch rush. A guy in a suit finishes his pasta and calls me over, and asks for the dessert menu. What IS a pavlova? 'I'll have the pavlova,' he tells me brusquely. I head back to the kitchen where the chef was flinging things around the place like your man in the Muppet Show. 'Fancy Dan outside wants a pavlova,' I say as nonchalantly as I can, seeing if I can get away with actually having to say the words out loud: 'Follow up question. What IS a pavlova?' Look, 'tis far from pavlova I was reared. A homemade apple tart with a nice bit of custard, a cheeky trifle here and there, maybe a Viennetta if it was a very special occasion, but a dessert named after a Russian ballerina? Eh, that would be a hard no. The chef waves vaguely over at a tray and said, 'Don't forget the cream,' and points at the fridge. I grab a big bowl out and dollop a generous amount of white creamy stuff on top of the crispy marshmallowy yoke with strawberries on the plate. I deliver it to Mr Wall Street and then go to clear a booth that has just been vacated. After a couple of minutes, suit features is clicking his fingers at me. 'Ah, miss, the pavlova's excellent...' he says, with a weird, pinched look on his face. 'Nice one,' says I, twirling my j-cloth impatiently, looking at the substantial bite he's taken out of it. '... but the mayonnaise is a bit out of place with it,' he says grimacing like a man who's had his favourite treat ruined forever. I slink away, plate and eggy mess destined for the bin. No tip for me, unsurprisingly, but an invaluable lesson. Even if you do make an eegit of yourself, I tell the dog, as I grab the lead and the poo bags, at least you've got a story. One your children won't listen to, granted. But a story none the less, plus a deep respect for clearly-labelled condiments. Certainly not the cream of the crop of waitresses.
