2014 UniSA Nelson Mandela Lecture

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Wed 03 Sep 2014

In the footsteps of the great Nelson Mandela walks another humble soul keen to help her own country live in peace and harmony.

A talk about peace and how peace is slowly coming to Ireland, from Ireland's past peaceful president Mary McAleese, brought to you by The Bob Hawke Ministerial Centre.


Strengthening our Democracy – Valuing our Diversity – Building our Future will take place at the Adelaide Town Hall on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2014 at 6pm.


To say that Mary McAleese was the former President of Ireland and leave it like that would be like saying that Nelson Mandela was a rebel and a do-gooder with no further explanation.

Mary McAleese was indeed the former President of Ireland from 1997-2011. She served two terms of seven years. When she was elected in 2004 she stood unopposed.

Mary McAleese started to develop a peace process in her early years as President of Ireland. This resulted in the international treaty known as the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The Treaty agreed to "the mutual respect, the civil rights and the religious liberties of everyone in the community". All Irish residents were asked to vote on the treaty.

[ADVERT]The body of The Good Friday Agreement opened with the words; "We, the participants in the multi-party negotiations, believe that the agreement we have negotiated offers a truly historic opportunity for a new beginning." ( BBC News )

While serving as Prime Minister in Ireland, Mary McAleese worked very hard at what she termed as Building Bridges. She made several important steps toward creating peace and harmony in her own country. Her Building Bridges steps included celebrating the 12th of July, a day that Ulster Protestants Celebrate as a victory against Catholics during the 18th Century.

Mary McAleese, a confirmed Catholic, even took communion in the Protestant Church of Ireland cathedral as a way of leading her people to be more accepting and less dogmatic. Mary McAleese also holds liberal views on both homosexuality and women priests. She is a humanitarian in the truest sense of the word.

After her resignation, Irish Times reported that she had voluntarily returned more than €500,000 in unused Presidential Allowance funds, accrued over the 14 years of her term of office. She had already given to charities over €100,000 in unused gifts.


On the night of the Wednesday 3rd of September at 6pm there will be a free event at the Adelaide Town Hall to celebrate and promote peace. ABC's Chief Political Commentator will be there to ask questions. Many of these questions will be from the general public and can be sent in during the online registration process.


Mary has come to Adelaide to follow in the footsteps of the great Nelson Mandela and help hold a shining torch for others to follow. Creating Peace and Harmony in a battered and scarred country – she has come to share her stories and insights into how she helped to create a more peaceful Ireland.

• Love in Chaos: Spiritual Growth and the Search for Peace in Northern Ireland by Mary McAleese. Foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.New York : Continuum, 1999. ISBN 0-8264-1137-1.
• President Mary McAleese: Building Bridges – Selected Speeches and Statements. Foreword by Seamus Heaney. Dublin : The History Press, 2011. ISBN 1-84588-724-7.

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!date 03/09/2014 -- 03/09/2014
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