Transcript: When I was working as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, I had to go to some of the most difficult places of conflict – to ________ and Chechnya; to East Timor after the terrible killings there; and Sierra Leone where children and pregnant women have arms and legs chopped off . . . an elderly man with no hands trying to shave. I have these images just about an inch below the surface of my mind. I can recall them at any time. They’re there. I can never get rid of them. And in a way, they’re also part of why I can speak about issues with a certain empathy of understanding, because I have seen. When I would come back from some of the worst visits, some of my colleagues would say, “Why are you sounding not exactly optimistic, but you’re saying, ‘Let’s do this. Let’s do that.’” And I think it’s a psychological characteristic that I’m happy I have. I’d like to see maybe that the glass isn’t half full; but if it’s a tiny bit full, what can you do to make it more full? And I do believe – and it’s part of my philosophy – that everyone can make a difference. That’s what happens. Small groups come together. A group of lawyers that gave us the Universal Declaration. Mahatma Gandhi, ________ himself, figures who have stood out. Writers, poets and thinkers have changed our world because they have reminded us of our humanity; reminded us of our dignity and worth. And so that’s, I think, very much what motivates me. I’m very lucky. I wake up every morning full of enthusiasm for what I can do during the day. And I have met some absolutely fantastic people, very often at grassroots – very poor people making a huge difference in their lives. I saw them recently in Nairobi with AIDS orphans and with women who are possible trying to get over so many discriminatory barriers – strong, resourceful women, but without resources. So getting them the resources is part of . . . and helping them to do much more. They’re already on the road.

Recorded on: 7/25/07

Transcript: When I finished my five years term as UN High Commissioner, I wanted to bring, again, that experience into linking the human rights values and the reality of economic globalization, which is so unfair and divides the world. I was influenced by Professor Hans ________, who has developed a global ethic. And he draws on the great religions of the world and sees how much they have in common as a global ethic. And I felt that similarly, the commitment to human rights should have a bearing on what happens in globalization. So we’ve been looking at trade issues, and here I wear another useful hat. I’m the Honorary President of Oxfam International. So we work with Oxfam. And I attended Cancun . . . the discussions there on trade. I was in Hong Kong for the most recent discussions. There is, on paper, a commitment to a ________ development ground which should mean fairer trade, but it’s not happening. And the rich countries continued their subsidies on agricultural goods. That’s a human rights issue. But I went to Maui with a delegation and we went out into the field. It was the women who were picking the cotton. They were poorer than they had been three or four years before because of the subsidies in the United States boosting ________ business in cotton and depressing the prices for these poor women in West Africa who have lovely cotton, but they can’t compete with the subsidies. So I saw the same thing in Mozambique with sugar, which is an EU issue . . . the European Union. So we try to frame trade issues in terms of the impact on human rights. We try to engage the private sector . . . major corporations that human rights is not just the responsibility of governments, but companies have an appropriate responsibility. We do a lot of work in that area. I mentioned already I work in health, because health is not just very important to the individual and family. A health crisis – a sick child, a dying father – can be a huge problem driving a family back into an acute poverty. So it’s very linked to family development, and also a country’s development. A country’s health system is key to whether that country will do well economically. And these are issues that engage us mostly in partnering with others and in bringing our strong human rights lens and our insistence. If you take a human rights approach, you must feel comfortable. You must think of those who are most vulnerable. You must have a gender perspective, and you must tackle corruption. So these are the kind of ways in which we show a human rights approach, and it makes a difference.

Recorded on: 7/25/07

Transcript: Working in Africa, I’m very conscious that there are 53 countries, and that they are moving at different speeds; and that you also have important Pan African and regional African institutions. There was a reform of the African union, and it has a commission like the Commission of the European Union. Half the numbers of that commission are women, so there’s a big commitment to gender in a lot of issues. In many of the countries now, there is a real sense that things are moving forward. There was a recent opinion or something taken, and most of the African countries sampled really felt there was a lot of room for improvement, but we’re on the right road – commitment to the millennium goals, better governance, tackling corruption. So I think there’s a tendency sometimes to sort of write off Africa in the sweep as being a basket case or something. Far from it. There are actually very interesting and very progressive things happening in many of the countries in Africa.

Recorded on: 7/25/07

Transcript: We work on health as a human right. We bring together ministers of health and try to support them in coping with the many interventions on health by ________ governments, by funds, by the World Health Organization, etc. I co-chair a high level body on the terrible brain drain of health workers out in Sub-Saharan Africa and in parts of South Asia, etc. – where there’s a high disease prevalence, poor health systems, but the doctors and nurses are leaving and coming to the United States and parts of Europe – and help to make that fairer. We work on decent work. One of the things about African countries is the populations are incredibly young. In many of them, well over 50% of the population is under 25, maybe under 20, and they have no jobs. So that’s a human rights issue.

Recorded on: 7/25/07

Transcript: It’s very much rooted in the international agenda of human rights, particularly the universal declaration of human rights. But it’s not saying these are just words on paper. It’s saying, “How do we make this real and operational, particularly for the poorest and the most marginalized?” So now the focus of our work is on African countries mainly. Ireland is doing very well. I love going back there. I have grandchildren there. And it’s wonderful to see how prosperous modern Ireland is. And it’s a kind of hope for poor, developing countries because the change was very rapid. We work on health as a human right. We bring together ministers of health and try to support them in coping with the many interventions on health by ________ governments, by funds, by the World Health Organization, etc. I co-chair a high level body on the terrible brain drain of health workers out in Sub-Saharan Africa and in parts of South Asia, etc. – where there’s a high disease prevalence, poor health systems, but the doctors and nurses are leaving and coming to the United States and parts of Europe – and help to make that fairer. We work on decent work. One of the things about African countries is the populations are incredibly young. In many of them, well over 50% of the population is under 25, maybe under 20, and they have no jobs. So that’s a human rights issue.

Recorded on: 7/25/07

Transcript: Ireland is doing very well. I love going back there. I have grandchildren there. And it’s wonderful to see how prosperous modern Ireland is. And it’s a kind of hope for poor, developing countries because the change was very rapid.

Recorded on: 7/25/07

Transcript: when I graduated from Trinity College in Lowell, I was fortunate enough to go to the Harvard Law School at a particularly interesting time. I’m the class of ’68, so I was there in 1967-68. And that was the time when young Americans were questioning the war in Vietnam. They were interested in civil rights programs in the South. Martin Luther King was assassinated that year, and Robert Kennedy just after I graduated. And I came back to Ireland imbued with that sense that young people can make a difference. And I was elected to the Irish Senate very shortly afterwards. And the first measure . . . bill in the Parliament that I introduced at the age of 25 was a bill to legalize family planning. It seemed to me to be very simple because married women were not allowed to have the contraceptive pill unless they had cycle regulation problems. And it must have been the weather, but there was a phenomenon of many married women having cycle regulation problems. And also you couldn’t buy or sell the pill. It was a criminal offense. But if you could manage to get a pill . . . or sorry, a condom . . . then you could use a condom, but not buy or sell it. And I felt, “This is something that just needs to be straightened out.” And I completely underestimated the grave offense and concern that I caused to a whole range of people. I was denounced by bishops and priests from the pulpit. I was denounced by newspapers. I was an outcast for a while, and it was a very troubling experience. I kind of wobbled, because I had been used to being more or less reasonably admired and liked. I was doing well, and suddenly I was actually a hate figure and got hate mail. And it was very good for me, because I learned a lesson that if you really believe that something is important and it’s true, then stick to it. Go through with it. Pay the price. Be unpopular. Don’t be arrogant, but sometimes you have to stick to your principles.

Recorded on: 7/25/07

Transcript: I thought about that a lot, particularly when I had been honored to be elected President of Ireland. First of all I put a light in the window of the official residence for all of those who had to immigrate. Because when I was growing up in Mayo, immigration was just a terrible, terrible loss. There was a book written about “No One Shalt Stop,” and I wanted to gather in that wider Irish family. And there were a number of reasons for that. We were trying to build the reconciliation peace process in Northern Ireland, and I felt that the Irish are, in fact, much more diverse than we think. We’re all over the world, and we have intermingled, intermarried, and we’ve made our contribution. So by gathering in that Irish Diaspora, I think it was very helpful to a modern sense of a more open Irishness, which went beyond being Catholic and Republican to embracing the many strands of Irishness.

Recorded on: 7/25/07

Question: What is the state of Africa today?

Transcript: Working in Africa, I’m very conscious that there are 53 countries, and that they are moving at different speeds; and that you also have important Pan African and regional African institutions. There was a reform of the African union, and it has a commission like the Commission of the European Union. Half the numbers of that commission are women, so there’s a big commitment to gender in a lot of issues. In many of the countries now, there is a real sense that things are moving forward. There was a recent opinion or something taken, and most of the African countries sampled really felt there was a lot of room for improvement, but we’re on the right road – commitment to the millennium goals, better governance, tackling corruption. So I think there’s a tendency sometimes to sort of write off Africa in the sweep as being a basket case or something. Far from it. There are actually very interesting and very progressive things happening in many of the countries in Africa.

Question: How does the West’s human rights record measure up?

Transcript:There are, I think, the two worlds, and more so now than at the very beginning of this century. In September 2000, there was a big meeting in the general assembly because it was the start of a new millennium. And the heads of state and government combined to draw up something for the millennium declaration, which was the source of the millennium development goals. And the goals to have those in poverty . . . to have every child have full primary education, no discrimination, the health goals, etc. And the eighth goal was that the rich countries should do more to help the poorest. And that meant living up to raising the amount of official development aid to 0.7%. The United States is way below that, although there’s a lot of voluntary commitment from the United States. Most European countries, including the modern Ireland, are fast-tracking to that 0.7%. But even so, we’re not living up to the G8 commitments. And what is astounding – and, to me, a terrible really indictment of our wisdom – is if you look at the military spending, it’s way over $900 billion a year. All we need for achieving the millennium development goals is about $100 billion. We would have a much more secure world. So it’s good, I think, that we have more voices and civil society groups. More voices of women . . . women leaders saying we need to change the dynamics. We have a terrible arms trade in small arms. Happily _______ Oxfam and a lot of NGOs have been calling for an arms trade treaty, and that has made a lot of progress. We may get one by about 2010. Maybe not all countries will subscribe; but the sale of arms, these AKA rifles, these guns that kill, they are the weapons of mass destruction, though we have to be worried about nuclear proliferation. And now we have climate change on top of all these issues.

Recorded on: 7/25/07

Question: How has Irish identity changed?

Transcript: I would say that the traditional Catholic Ireland that I grew up in was very much focused on the male hierarchical structure starting with the church itself. But women on the whole didn’t work outside the home, and women couldn’t serve on juries. There were all kinds of discriminations, and many of those I went into public life early to tackle. So I was trying to change those circumstances from a very early stage. I think it was a combination of an inner sense of justice, and that sense that women had just as much potential, and that I had the same potential as my brothers which, in fact, my parents very much encouraged.

Question: How has the position of Irish women changed?

Transcript: Well when I graduated from Trinity College in Lowell, I was fortunate enough to go to the Harvard Law School at a particularly interesting time. I’m the class of ’68, so I was there in 1967-68. And that was the time when young Americans were questioning the war in Vietnam. They were interested in civil rights programs in the South. Martin Luther King was assassinated that year, and Robert Kennedy just after I graduated. And I came back to Ireland imbued with that sense that young people can make a difference. And I was elected to the Irish Senate very shortly afterwards. And the first measure . . . bill in the Parliament that I introduced at the age of 25 was a bill to legalize family planning. It seemed to me to be very simple because married women were not allowed to have the contraceptive pill unless they had cycle regulation problems. And it must have been the weather, but there was a phenomenon of many married women having cycle regulation problems. And also you couldn’t buy or sell the pill. It was a criminal offense. But if you could manage to get a pill . . . or sorry, a condom . . . then you could use a condom, but not buy or sell it. And I felt, “This is something that just needs to be straightened out.” And I completely underestimated the grave offense and concern that I caused to a whole range of people. I was denounced by bishops and priests from the pulpit. I was denounced by newspapers. I was an outcast for a while, and it was a very troubling experience. I kind of wobbled, because I had been used to being more or less reasonably admired and liked. I was doing well, and suddenly I was actually a hate figure and got hate mail. And it was very good for me, because I learned a lesson that if you really believe that something is important and it’s true, then stick to it. Go through with it. Pay the price. Be unpopular. Don’t be arrogant, but sometimes you have to stick to your principles.

Question: When did justice first spark your interest?

Transcript: Well the strange thing is I don’t remember when I didn’t have that sense. Even as a small child with my brothers kicking a football on the beach _______ near _______ where I was born, I would break off from the football. And I remember having these deep thoughts that there are things that have to change; that somehow we must make it a fairer world. And when I studied law, I didn’t study law to be a lawyer. I studied law to learn how to use law as an instrument for social change; as a barrister in court; as a legislator, as it happened; and as a teacher. I love to teach law not in a narrow sense, but again as an enabler. I’m still teaching law and linking human rights and globalization.

Question: What forced have shaped humanity most?

Transcript: I think I have a particular framing at the moment, which is that we got our values for the world at a time when the world was extraordinarily anxious after two World Wars, a Holocaust, nuclear explosions on citizens in Japan, and the beginnings of a Cold War. And then we got this commitment as a birthright. Look at the world today. In my lifetime, I think . . . I’ve never seen a point where we’re as anxious. We have the divides since 9/11 – poverty divides, ideological divides. We have nuclear proliferation right back on the front burner, with the link maybe to dirty bomb threats through terrorism. We have all of that, and what we’re doing to our world – the climate change issue. So never have we needed those values as much. And as Mary Burke growing up in the west of Ireland, I didn’t know what my life would lead or where it would bring me. I also had the influence, now that I think about it, of several nuns in the family. Maybe that was also part of that sense of having a mission in life; but I do feel that the world desperately needs to regain a sense of common shared values, and I put human rights at the heart of those values. But not narrowly; not just rights to fair trial, no torture, getting rid of Guantanamo Bay and all the rest of it. But also rights to food, safe water, health, education, dignity and worth of every human being. If we had lived up to the vision of 60 years ago, and had committed to everyone having the birthright in reality of those rights, think of how much safer, how much nicer, how much better our world would be.

Question: Where does the idea of human rights originate?

Transcript: It’s an old idea, but the modern roots are in the French Constitution, the Constitution of the United States. But from an international point of view, the great document is the universal declaration of human rights. And that was the work of a small team of lawyers who came from China, the Netherlands, from France, from Canada under the chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt. At the time she was already the widow of President Roosevelt. And she was quite bossy. She wasn’t herself a lawyer, but she bossed this team of eminent lawyers to write it in straightforward, simple language. There are only 30 articles. It’s quite short. But the first article sums it all up. It says “All human beings are born free and equal in indignity and rights.” And that’s very interesting that dignity comes before rights. That sense of identity, of self-worth; the fact that if somebody is sleeping in a cardboard box in a doorway, the worst thing for them is if we don’t see them. It’s that utter self, you know, elimination. And the Universal Declaration also talks of Article 29, the second to last article, about duties to the community. It’s like the ________ Principles. Or indeed, most great religions talk about that we are connected with each other, that we should reach out to community. It’s very important at the moment that we’re coming up to the 60th anniversary of when that was adopted in Paris on the 10th of December 1948. So part of my work in realizing rights, and more recently, since I’ve become an elder of Nelson Mandela and ________, the elders have adopted the Declaration of the Universal Human Rights as part of our framing constitution. And we’re going to be trying to get people to reread it, to think about it, and to say “This is the birthright of children.” It includes rights to food, and safe water, and health, and education. So we need to get on with these millennial development goals. It’s a whole framing of values which is universal. I say we just wouldn’t get as good a text today if we brought people together to write it. We would be so compromised by all the things that have happened, including the emphasis on security, the post 9/11 world, the ideological divide; but we don’t have to re-write it because every government has accepted it. They just haven’t implemented it.

Recorded on: 7/25/07

Question: Do you have a personal philosophy?

Transcript: To an extent, yes. When I was working as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, I had to go to some of the most difficult places of conflict – to ________ and Chechnya; to East Timor after the terrible killings there; and Sierra Leone where children and pregnant women have arms and legs chopped off . . . an elderly man with no hands trying to shave. I have these images just about an inch below the surface of my mind. I can recall them at any time. They’re there. I can never get rid of them. And in a way, they’re also part of why I can speak about issues with a certain empathy of understanding, because I have seen. When I would come back from some of the worst visits, some of my colleagues would say, “Why are you sounding not exactly optimistic, but you’re saying, ‘Let’s do this. Let’s do that.’” And I think it’s a psychological characteristic that I’m happy I have. I’d like to see maybe that the glass isn’t half full; but if it’s a tiny bit full, what can you do to make it more full? And I do believe – and it’s part of my philosophy – that everyone can make a difference. That’s what happens. Small groups come together. A group of lawyers that gave us the Universal Declaration. Mahatma Gandhi, ________ himself, figures who have stood out. Writers, poets and thinkers have changed our world because they have reminded us of our humanity; reminded us of our dignity and worth. And so that’s, I think, very much what motivates me. I’m very lucky. I wake up every morning full of enthusiasm for what I can do during the day. And I have met some absolutely fantastic people, very often at grassroots – very poor people making a huge difference in their lives. I saw them recently in Nairobi with AIDS orphans and with women who are possible trying to get over so many discriminatory barriers – strong, resourceful women, but without resources. So getting them the resources is part of . . . and helping them to do much more. They’re already on the road.

Recorded on: 7/25/07

Transcript: My immediate family had a big impact. My father, being an old fashioned doctor, he knew how to listen. He slowed his own speech. He took his time even leaving a very poor cottage because the old lady wanted to come out to the gate with him, and she was on a . . . with a stick. And how he took the time. And it was important, and he reinforced the dignity and just didn’t prescribe pills, but was the true doctor. And I read a lot about, as I mentioned, Gandhi. I had read a lot about Nelson Mandela before I met him. I had the honor to be president at his inauguration when I went there as President of Ireland and we made a state visit. And we’ve become friends. And he’s somebody I hugely admire. Desmond Tutu, but also very grassroots people. And one woman leader who is also now an elder – Ella Bhatt. She founded SEWA, the Self-Employed Women’s Association, which I visited when I was president. It’s one of the largest women’s organizations in the world. And the work they have done to improve the lives and dignity of so many very poor women . . . Mohammad Yunis recently got the Nobel Prize. And indeed another man from Bangladesh who did a similar wonderful thing – founding _________. Mohammad founded the Grameen Bank, both working with very poor women. And _________ has done incredible training at various different levels. And I’ve been lucky enough, because of the work I’ve been doing, to meet the most extraordinary people, including very courageous human rights defenders. ________ and her sister ________ are both from Pakistan. They’re speaking out at the moment about what’s happening in Pakistan so courageously. And I feel a huge empathy, and I want to do whatever I can because they’re doing what they can.

Recorded on: 7/25/07

Question: Beyond a simple title, how would you describe what you do for a living?

Transcript: It’s very much rooted in the international agenda of human rights, particularly the universal declaration of human rights. But it’s not saying these are just words on paper. It’s saying, “How do we make this real and operational, particularly for the poorest and the most marginalized?” So now the focus of our work is on African countries mainly. Ireland is doing very well. I love going back there. I have grandchildren there. And it’s wonderful to see how prosperous modern Ireland is. And it’s a kind of hope for poor, developing countries because the change was very rapid. We work on health as a human right. We bring together ministers of health and try to support them in coping with the many interventions on health by ________ governments, by funds, by the World Health Organization, etc. I co-chair a high level body on the terrible brain drain of health workers out in Sub-Saharan Africa and in parts of South Asia, etc. – where there’s a high disease prevalence, poor health systems, but the doctors and nurses are leaving and coming to the United States and parts of Europe – and help to make that fairer. We work on decent work. One of the things about African countries is the populations are incredibly young. In many of them, well over 50% of the population is under 25, maybe under 20, and they have no jobs. So that’s a human rights issue.

Question: How did you get into your line of work?

Transcript: It wasn’t sort of planned stage by stage. It was about law and justice, and using law as a tool to change things. I talked my way into being elected to the Senate for the university constituency by pointing out, “Why was there elderly male professors?” And so they said, “If you go forward, we’ll try and get you in.” And I learned that to make changes – particularly on issues of concern only to women . . . which weren’t the only issues, but they were important in Ireland at that time –you needed a critical mass of women in the Irish Senate. There were six out of the 60 when I was first elected. When we were 13, we began to be able to shape the agenda. And I’ve learned that women’s leadership has to be about women supporting other women trying to create those critical masses, and trying to work in a way that supports and empowers women.

When I was elected President of Ireland, it wasn’t an executive presidency. So I didn’t have the political power. I had to find a way of being complimentary to _________, the Prime Minister and his government when I was elected to bring the presidency into a very relevant position as an officer selected by the people. So I ran on a platform “A President with a Purpose.” My purpose was to change the presidency dramatically into being an office outside politics that linked closely with people; linked with the Diaspora; linked with the communities in Northern Ireland trying to make peace – linked internationally through visits to places like Rwanda and Somalia. It’s a seven year term, and I could have stood for a second term. It was the most difficult decision I think I ever had to take because I really wanted to stay on, and I had many things I wanted to do and complete; but I knew that I could only probably do it 100% for another three of four years, not for seven. There was a lot of repetition as well. So it was a really tough decision not to go forward for a second term. And then I was sort of faced with a “What do you do after you’ve been president?” You can’t just go back into the law library. Or maybe you could.

And by complete coincidence, the first UN High Commissioner for Human Rights resigned suddenly just about a few weeks after I publicly said I wouldn’t seek a second term. And I knew that the office was underfunded and there were difficulties, but I asked the Irish government to consider putting me forward as a candidate. And the Irish government actually campaigned very strongly, and Kofi Annan accepted my candidature and nominated me, and I became the UN High Commissioner in September of 1997. I even, under the pressure from Kofi Annan because the office was really in difficult circumstances, shortened a little bit my presidential term, which meant I worked all summer and took no holiday, which was a bit stupid. What I’m trying to say is that none of this was planned in a sort of “I’ll do this” and “I’ll do that” way. It sort of became a kind of organic, ________ experience. The experience as a lawyer, and as a president, and as a legislator was invaluable when I was High Commissioner for Human Rights. Going to companies of conflict with no visible legal power and trying to have a moral voice, a voice for victims, but also the institutional change. And like I had worked on the institution of the President, I found that I had to build in the Office of High Commissioner, and build a team, and build their morale, which I think was very important. Now I have a much smaller team called “Realizing Rights”. And it’s simply continuing in a more flexible, nimble, civil society way the work I’ve been doing.

Question: What are you working on now?

Transcript: When I finished my five years term as UN High Commissioner, I wanted to bring, again, that experience into linking the human rights values and the reality of economic globalization, which is so unfair and divides the world. I was influenced by Professor Hans ________, who has developed a global ethic. And he draws on the great religions of the world and sees how much they have in common as a global ethic. And I felt that similarly, the commitment to human rights should have a bearing on what happens in globalization. So we’ve been looking at trade issues, and here I wear another useful hat. I’m the Honorary President of Oxfam International. So we work with Oxfam. And I attended Cancun . . . the discussions there on trade. I was in Hong Kong for the most recent discussions. There is, on paper, a commitment to a ________ development ground which should mean fairer trade, but it’s not happening. And the rich countries continued their subsidies on agricultural goods. That’s a human rights issue. But I went to Maui with a delegation and we went out into the field. It was the women who were picking the cotton. They were poorer than they had been three or four years before because of the subsidies in the United States boosting ________ business in cotton and depressing the prices for these poor women in West Africa who have lovely cotton, but they can’t compete with the subsidies. So I saw the same thing in Mozambique with sugar, which is an EU issue . . . the European Union. So we try to frame trade issues in terms of the impact on human rights. We try to engage the private sector . . . major corporations that human rights is not just the responsibility of governments, but companies have an appropriate responsibility. We do a lot of work in that area. I mentioned already I work in health, because health is not just very important to the individual and family. A health crisis – a sick child, a dying father – can be a huge problem driving a family back into an acute poverty. So it’s very linked to family development, and also a country’s development. A country’s health system is key to whether that country will do well economically. And these are issues that engage us mostly in partnering with others and in bringing our strong human rights lens and our insistence. If you take a human rights approach, you must feel comfortable. You must think of those who are most vulnerable. You must have a gender perspective, and you must tackle corruption. So these are the kind of ways in which we show a human rights approach, and it makes a difference.

Recorded on: 7/25/07

Question: What is your legacy?

Transcript: Well in a way that’s more for others, but I think it’s true to say that I’ve been very much identified with human rights. Some people don’t like that. They say, “Oh, she’s always talking about human rights.” But I think it’s important that we know that we have values. And then we hold governments accountable and the business sector accountable. If I’ve contributed significantly to that, I’d be very happy with that. As it happens, I’ve been recently asked and very honored to become one of the elders working with incredible people like ________ himself, Nelson Mandela, Graca his wife, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan, Muhammad Yunis, Ella Bhatt of India and so forth. And I’ve been able to encourage that we as elder remind the world of human rights. I’m glad that that can be part of what I can say. And I believe that . . . I believe that there’s a growing idealism in young people. They’re longing for that voice. Why do so many young people listen to __________ . . . love him in a way that’s hard to understand basically? It’s because he stands for the values that would make our world a more peaceful, a more . . . a fairer and a better place for the dignity and rights of everybody in the world. We could do it.

Recorded on: 7/25/07

Transcript: Mary Robinson

Question: Where are you from and how has that shaped you?

Transcript: Well I grew up in the west of Ireland, which at the time was one of the poorest parts. My father and mother were both doctors, and I went out a lot with my father on his calls to very poor homes. I think that had a big influence on me. I saw poverty, and I saw how he as a doctor tried to really talk to people, listen to them, and be on their wavelength. I was wedged between four brothers, which is why I had this early interest in human rights. And I was influenced by my grandfather who was a lawyer who had to retire early because of ill health. And he didn’t know quite how to talk to a child of 10, 11, 12, so he treated me as an adult and talked about law and justice. And that had a big impact. I was aware of the different strands of history because some of my uncles had served on the British colonial service. And my father’s oldest brother was knighted by the Queen when I was quite young. My grandmother went over for that and there was quite a bit of excitement. But on the other side, I also knew about the rebel side that had fought for freedom. And in the school that I was in, it was a school which very much encouraged a sort of passionate sense of Irish history.

Question: What does it mean to be Irish?

Transcript: I thought about that a lot, particularly when I had been honored to be elected President of Ireland. First of all I put a light in the window of the official residence for all of those who had to immigrate. Because when I was growing up in Mayo, immigration was just a terrible, terrible loss. There was a book written about “No One Shalt Stop,” and I wanted to gather in that wider Irish family. And there were a number of reasons for that. We were trying to build the reconciliation peace process in Northern Ireland, and I felt that the Irish are, in fact, much more diverse than we think. We’re all over the world, and we have intermingled, intermarried, and we’ve made our contribution. So by gathering in that Irish Diaspora, I think it was very helpful to a modern sense of a more open Irishness, which went beyond being Catholic and Republican to embracing the many strands of Irishness.

Recorded on: 7/25/07