Literature Commentary

     On December 3, 1990 Mary Robinson gave her historical inaugural speech after becoming Ireland’s first female president. Robinson sets the tone by expressing her humbled appreciation for being voted to represent the “new” Ireland. She makes it clear that the new Ireland is going to open up and participate on a global level, unlike its previous intrinsic reputation. Right along with Ireland’s folklore history, Robinson revisits the legend of the spiritually significant Fifth Province. The Fifth Province represents the soul of the Irish community, both residing and emigrated. Mary Robinson urges the community to continue the confident strides toward “self-development and self-expression”. She also rallies the Irish to “play to our strengths,” which she describes as creative arts, education, and pollution-free innovation. As Ireland’s first woman president, Robinson focuses on the importance of a moral Irish culture during a “vital moment in Europe’s history,” she promises to keep the peace with bordering countries, emphasizing “another place close to my heart,” Northern Ireland. Robinson relays importance of Gaelic-Irish culture by reciting quotes from Irish poets like Seamus Heaney, James Joyce, Eavan Boland, and W.B.Yeats.
     Mary Robinson’s speech reflects Ireland’s challenges associated with the turn of the twenty-first century. As Robinson pointed out in her inauguration speech, Ireland was transitioning to a “new” Ireland. One major challenge in Irish history was equal rights for women. Ireland was a late bloomer when it came to equality for women, waiting as late as the 1970’s to officially acknowledge the equality of issues including pay rates, marriage decisions, and protection. Ireland seemed to rapidly change their minds on the issue of women’s equality after being culminated by the 1990 election which made Mary Robinson Ireland’s first female president. Robinson made it clear women were now becoming vital participants in the “new” Ireland when she said, “As a woman, I want women who have felt themselves outside history to be written back into history, in the words of Eavan Boland, ‘finding a voice where they found a vision.’”
Another reflection of Mary Robinson’s speech was Gaelic-Irish cultural values. Much of the inaugural speech sounds like a rally of Irish pride, morality, and growth. For years the Irish were forced to be ashamed of their culture because of the English rule. They were not allowed to speak their language or create Irish literature and arts, which contributed to a blurry definition of Irish culture. Robinson was trying to revive the Gaelic-Irish cultural values when she states, “I want this Presidency to promote the telling of stories — stories of celebration through the arts and stories of conscience and of social justice.” The “new” Ireland Robinson is representing does not want to abandon traditional Gaelic-Irish cultural values, rather develop an open minded approach.
     One major thing I have learned about Irish culture is the rapid change of heart on the issue of woman’s rights. In the matter of 13 years, Ireland went from giving women equal pay, to electing a woman president. Mary Robinson was able to accomplish something that no woman in the United States has been able to do. I credit Ireland for making such a drastic change for the better of their country and culture.