Former Irish President Mary McAleese Speaks at Queen’s

By Daniel Rankin

On Monday evening I had the privilege of interviewing former Irish President Mary McAleese at a ‘Lit Talk’ event hosted by the Literific.

McAleese’s presidency encompassed the end of the Troubles and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, the Celtic Tiger and recession, and the historic visit of Queen Elizabeth II to the Republic of Ireland in 2011.

The only President from the north – Ardoyne, North Belfast – much of the discussion surrounded her upbringing as a ‘snapshot’ of northern life, growing up with many from a Protestant background. She studied at Queen’s and was called to the NI and Irish bars in the mid-1970s, working as a barrister thereon, also having a stint at RTÉ as a current affairs journalist for 2 years from 1979.

I was challenged to get three questions in by Mary and her husband Martin, which I just about managed to. The conversation included questions from audience members also relating to the Catholic Church, and reconciliation.

The following are some highlights presented over the discussion about her career.

On her upbringing in Ardoyne;
‘…[we landed] as the only Catholics into what was a so-called Protestant street. And that turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to us because unlike most people then in Northern Ireland, we weren’t ghettoised. Over 90% of people in Northern Ireland lived in areas that were defined by religion-stroke-politics. We weren’t; I wasn’t meeting my friends in school, but I was meeting them on the street and in the street. And so I grew up with a plethora of Catholic and non-Catholic friends…’

On rights in the Catholic Church;
‘…the Catholic Church had been under scrutiny in relation to its treatment of child victims of sexual abuse since the 1990s. And there was nothing, zilch, nada, going on in the leading Catholic university, which is the Pontifical Gregorian University… Nothing. When I went and I looked at the curriculum, not a mention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, nor the Convention on the Rights of the Child…
‘I think it was Ban Ki moon who described the Church as having the moral pulpit of the world. They use that to very good effect, to speak out on many issues, but they’re not so good historically at taking that spotlight and turning it inwards to a position of self-critiquing…’

On Brexit and UK relations;
‘…there was a lot of, I would say, mutual ignorance. We just didn’t know each other well enough. And even though we were next door neighbours, that’s one of the things I learned early on that just because you live next door to people doesn’t mean you know them.
‘…It was a betrayal of the Good Friday Agreement, because the people who pursued Brexit were frankly clueless about it… I thought it was a monumentally stupid, in terms of economics as it has proved to be…
‘I also didn’t like the Prime Minister [during Brexit]. I had no respect for him whatsoever or his successor. I’d just say that quite boldly. I thought they were stupidest people on the planet…’

The above is only a microcosm of the insight gained from this discussion. Dr. McAleese provided us with insight on all papal policy since 1958, wisdom about relations with America (describing the annual visit to D.C. as an important act of diplomacy) and invoked great minds of peace in Irish history such as O’Connell and Columbanus. ‘Building bridges’ is Mary McAleese’s legacy, and it was palpable in conversation.

Credit:

All image credits to the Literific, and Queen’s University Belfast.