Quotes from Mary Robinson

Ireland is not in a good place at the moment. We have our own humiliation of losing our economic sovereignty, and we're now regaining it slowly and painfully.

The whole human rights structure is based on the accountability of governments.

I want to take human rights out of their box. I want to show the relevance of the universal principles of human rights to the basic needs of health, security, education and equality.

The fight for human rights is about speaking truth to power.

We will not let governments off the hook. We will look to civil society to help us, to pin governments, to what they have committed to here. And we will report on it.

The question now is how best to help the Iraqi people build a democratic and free Iraqi society that ensures respect for the rights of all Iraqis.

The Snow-drop, Winter's timid child, Awakes to life, bedew'd with tears.

The MDGs have been useful in moving human rights and development discourse together and in highlighting the need for greater accountability at all levels.

I have a sense that South Africa is my other country apart from my native country that I particularly love, [that I] want to see succeed, and I did really want my message to be listened to.

Today's human rights violations are the causes of tomorrow's conflicts.

In a society where the rights and potential of women are constrained, no man can be truly free. He may have power, but he will not have freedom.

I was elected by the women of Ireland, who instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system.

If we took away barriers to women's leadership, we would solve the climate change problem a lot faster

Freedom from discrimination for women, ensuring that female children can learn to read, these are human needs for half the human race, not western values.

If the Chinese business community takes the Declaration of Human Rights, core labor standards, and environmental standards seriously, the government of China will take them far more seriously, too.

There's a worldwide linking of environmental activists, developmental experts and human rights advocates. And they're using the two frameworks, in particular environmental standards and human rights.

Sharing experience and building public support for the full range of rights is more powerful than legal cases.

Finance ministers must realize that the health budget can save them money if it's applied well.

We must encourage energy conservation and sustainable development. Young people are the ones who are most environmentally conscious in Ireland, so that to some extent they are educating their parents. They are tackling issues of waste disposal and so on. The schools help, because they put a lot of stress on environmental awareness.

A participant from Zambia, who had listened intently throughout the conference, finally raised her hand at a senior level roundtable. "I have been hearing this expression—'we need to think outside the box'—for the past 3 days," she said, reiterating the cliche. "It seems a little strange to me," the woman continued with bemusement. "In my community we don't thinking boxes.