After Dinner Speakers: Mary Robinson, Bruce Springsteen, Squeeze

Mary Robinson became High Commissioner for Human Rights on 12 September 1997, after a distinguished seven-year tenure as President of Ireland. As President, Mrs. Robinson developed a new sense of Ireland's economic, political and cultural links with other countries and cultures Mrs. Robinson was the first Head of State to visit Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide there and to Somalia following the crisis there in 1992, Before her election as President in 1990, Mrs. Robinson served as Senator, holding that office for 20 years. In 1969 she became the youngest Reid Professor of Constitutional Law at Trinity College, Dublin. She was called to the bar in 1967, becoming a Senior Counsel in 1980, and a member of the English Bar in 1973. She also served as a member of the International Commission of Jurists and of the Advisory Commission of Inter-Rights.