Ireland wasn’t always a progressive place. Even in the 1970s, women couldn’t sit on juries, hold civil service jobs after marriage, or legally obtain birth control. Well, Ireland’s first female president, Mary Robinson, has something to say about that.
After winning election to the Irish Senate in 1969, Robinson struggled to find colleagues who would support her efforts to reform a society dominated by the Catholic Church. But by 1989 she was widely credited with making Ireland a nation that had equal rights for men and women — and she became president a year later.
Robinson stopped by Greater Boston’s studios to discuss her new book, “Everybody Matters: My Life Giving Voice.”