Former UN Commissioner receives honorary degree in Scotland

Former UN Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson told students at a Scottish university they had been given a “great gift” as she picked up an honorary degree yesterday.

Mrs Robinson, who was Irish president from 1990 to 1997, told the graduates they had been given a gift which "several thousand million people on this plant will never receive".

"You have been able to experience the unfolding of a new century, with all its opportunities and challenges, within an environment where the pursuit of knowledge was the ultimate aim," she said.