Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson chaired the annual Historial Society’s RnL Debate, which took place on March 15th in the Public Theatre, Front Square.
The motion was: “That This House Believes that the Modern Irish Woman Has No Need For A Women’s Movement”, which the audience voted strongly against.
Whilst addressing the audience, Robinson reminisced about her time in Trinity. She said that members of the Hist at the time, including some of her own family members, had lain on the steps of the Graduates’ Memorial Building in an effort to prevent women being admitted to the society.
Robinson emphasised the role of both men and women in future women’s movements, and expressed the hope that “everyone comes out of this debate knowing they can change the world in some small way. Because that is how it starts.”
Robinson is currently Vice-President of the Hist, and Chancellor of Dublin University.
Other guest speakers at the event included Susan McKay, Director of the National Women’s Council of Ireland, Kate Holmquist, a journalist from the Irish Times, and Yvonne Galligan, the Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Women in Politics.