President accused of shirking human rights issues

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese has been accused of shirking human rights issues during her time in office.

The accusation is made by historian Diarmaid Ferriter in a new documentary on her presidency.

“Mary McAleese can be criticised for not being ambitious enough, not being brave enough and also shirking certain issues as president that she perhaps shouldn’t have,” he says in the programme.

“She did leave herself open to the charge of hypocrisy by becoming the leader of trade delegations to China and places like this with no mention of human rights abuse, no mention of Tibet or the Dalai Lama.

“This is all about drumming up business for the Celtic Tiger and it was the same Celtic Tiger that was consuming the victims at home that she was so keen to hug.

“I think Mary McAleese was determined to not so much to build bridges as to build a bridge and then stand in the middle of it.”

However, the historian, who lectures at St Patrick’s in Drumcondra, believes the former Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Queen’s University of Belfast is a much warmer president than her predecessor Mary Robinson.

He said the president, who is known for hugging people, showed her caring side in the aftermath of 9/11.

“She was certainly good as mammy of the nation in mourning and she does mammy of the nation very well and she’s a hugger to boot. You have that sense of warmth there and you have that sense of someone who was able to articulate feelings very well.

“That was something Mary Robinson perhaps didn’t have, she came across as being much more awkward and much colder,” he added.

Former Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes believes the country’s second female president feels pressure to live up to Mary Robinson’s pioneering presidency.

“I believe that there’s a lot of pressure on Mary McAleese to do things that are as significant as what Mary Robinson did and I believe she feels that pressure,” he says.

“But I don’t think that she has any difficulty in comparing herself with previous presidents because her personality is very strong but, of course, there are pressures on her to be as a good as Mary Robinson.”

Uachtaráin will be shown on TG4 on Wednesday at 9.30pm.