Mary Robinson: a hard act to follow

I don t know about you but I d been hoping that Mary Robinson would do another stint up in the Aras. I d spent a bit of time contemplating the alternatives recently and some of the possibilities were positively scarifying. I m not going to mention any names here for fear it might encourage them, but forced to choose between Albert Reynolds and Peter Sutherland I think I d go for Bart Simpson if only for his photogenic qualities.
The thought brought me back to the great days of the Hillery era when it seemed that the role had neither meaning nor purpose. In fact, President Hillery s finest achievement in office was probably getting his picture taken with B.P. Fallon at some musical bash in the Gaiety. Otherwise, it was a thoroughly inauspicious tenure, most notable for the bizarre press conference he called at one stage to deny that he was having an affair! It was the only occasion during his entire 14 years in office that he actually deserved to make the front pages.
Keeping the man in the lifestyle he was becoming accustomed to up in the Aras was costing a not insignificant amount of money. And what were we getting for it? A top hat to attend ceremonial functions! There were times when it seemed that a cardboard cut-out would bring more character to the job. So what was the point? To put it bluntly, there wasn t any and just about everyone knew it.
It is a measure of Mary Robinson s achievement that she transformed the public perception of the role of the President. Before she became involved, at best the incumbent was seen as a figure-head, and at worst a figure of fun. But she brought a sense of purpose and vitality to a previously moribund position. In contrast to her predecessors, she worked extremely hard, using the office very effectively to break down a whole series of prejudices which had always been accepted as part of the Irish way of life. She invited travellers, gays and people who were HIV-positive into Aras an Uachtarain, and in doing so played a significant role in ensuring that individuals and groups who had previously been marginalised would be accepted without qualification or hostility as legitimate members of the greater community in Ireland.
Of course, her contribution was largely symbolic, because that is the nature of the role. And there were potentially powerful symbolic statements that she didn t make she could, for example, have chosen not to inspect a military guard of honour as a matter of course when she was leaving the country on official business. But she brought energy, courage, commitment and dignity to a role we d never have associated these qualities with before. And something else: in her time in office, she did everything that she had told us she would do in the run-up to the election. She did not flinch from her promise to be open and active and inclusive. And in the process, she became a powerful and impressive symbol of Ireland s coming-of-age for people all over the world.
I know that this may sound like sentimental nonsense, but it is a fact that it is a surprise when someone remains true to their convictions in public life. It is a fact that few, if any, of us could have imagined in advance the kind of President that Mary Robinson would become, if only because the reality before her had been so deathly dull and unbecoming to all of us. And it is a fact that it will be very difficult to find anyone who will fill the particular role with such well-pitched grace and intelligence in the future.
Sadly, there is now a potential irony in her very success in making the role of the President relevant. You might say that she symbolised the notion of zero intolerance in Irish life. Let s just suppose then, for light relief, that Fianna Fail put their current spokesman on Justice, John O Donoghue up for the job and he won. Would you like his to be an active Presidency? Or would you prefer that the job description reverted to a subtle blend of lying low, enjoying the Presidential claret and playing some golf, and then some more golf?
The point is that there is no more appalling prospect than some plonker with the intelligence of a hamster and the grace of a berserk rhinoceros trying to emulate the high profile style of the Robinson era. But it is a distinct possibility.
Is there any way of avoiding this? We shall see. But I won t be putting money on it in Paddy Power s.
Niall Stokes
Editor