Mary Robinson confident for future of family home project

ARRIVAL Former Senator George Mitchell is pictured with Mary Robinson in Ballina where he delivered the fourth Mary Robinson Centre International Human Rights Lecture. Also included are journalist and broadcaster Olivia O’Leary, lecture MC and Emer Gilvarry, Chairperson of the Mary Robinson Board. Pic: Henry Wills

Former President was speaking ahead of her annual human rights lecture in Ballina

Edwin McGreal

Former Irish President Mary Robinson remains ‘optimistic’ a centre in her name will still be housed at her family home in Ballina.
Plans to have her presidential archive located in Ballina ran aground late last year and will now be based in NUI Galway but Mrs Robinson remains confident Mayo County Council will succeed in the acquisition of her family home, Victoria House, overlooking the River Moy, as the location for the Mary Robinson Centre.
A review of the entire project by the Victoria House Foundation continues.
The former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights gave an update on the plans on Thursday morning at a press briefing in Mount Falcon, Ballina ahead of the fourth Mary Robinson International Human Rights Lecture in Ballina that afternoon, which was given by former US Senator George Mitchell.
“I understand that measures are moving forward in relation to the acquisition of Victoria House and I’m optimistic that the plans will go ahead,” Mrs Robinson told gathered media at Mount Falcon Estate.
“The fact that the archive is located in NUI Galway doesn’t really matter so much because it will be digitalised, it will be available in Ballina and the exhibitions will be held by NUI Galway in the Ballina centre and, as I say, I understand the issues of acquisition of Victoria House have been going well and that will also be coming on stream,” she said.
Mrs Robinson said that initial plans to house her presidential archive in an annex alongside Victoria House ran aground because ‘it was clear that there was a difficulty financially about sustainability’ and that NUI Galway was a more appropriate location due, in part, to a state-of-the-art archive already in existence in the university.
‘A bit painful’
She took issue with some of the commentary last year about the plans for locating the archive in Ballina. It was described, among other things, as ‘a vanity project’.  
“It was a bit painful last year. There was a lot of criticism from those who, somehow, didn’t understand how important it is for a town like Ballina that we use the possible benefits of having a centre that can attract visitors but, even more than that, become a centre for education of young people and also education on issues very dear to my heart, human rights, women’s leadership and, ultimately, climate justice,” she said.
She also said that while the archive will be based in NUI Galway, there will be a ‘memo of understanding’ that the archive will be ‘for the benefit, as much as possible, of Ballina, Mayo and the west of Ireland generally and that is being negotiated at the moment’.