about the centre
The Mary Robinson Centre will be established at Mary Robinson's childhood home at Victoria Terrace on the banks of the River Moy in Ballina. The Centre will include an interactive visitor centre, an events space and an academic research facility. Developed in partnership with Mayo County Council and the University of Galway, the Centre will explore the key themes and issues surrounding Mary Robinson’s legacy with a focus on human rights, gender equality, women in leadership and climate change.
The Centre’s vision is to establish a world class facility where Mary Robinson’s legacy is used to inspire and foster personal leadership in the service of promoting human rights, gender equality, women’s leadership and climate justice.
Mary Robinson’s extensive personal archive and memorabilia, gifted to University of Galway, will be displayed in exhibitions and study rooms, making this important collection accessible via digitisation.
The collection will be presented so as to engage a wide range of audiences from school groups to families, simultaneously facilitating deeper research by academics and university students. Inclusivity is at the core of the building design, which is universally accessible throughout.
In animating the legacy of Mary Robinson, an advocate for social change, the Centre will become a Centre for Change - a focal point for schools, the Irish public and for tourists to see and understand Mary’s legacy, and to be inspired to take action themselves.
A strong online presence and a programme of community events, learning activities and international conferences are key elements of the wider interpretative scheme. University of Galway will integrate the Centre and its offering into existing and new human rights, equality and climate undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
Throughout, Mary Robinson’s legacy will be employed as a jumping off point to provoke critical thought and discourse around contemporary human rights issues, encouraging people to take individual action to drive change for good.
The Centre’s vision is to establish a world class facility where Mary Robinson’s legacy is used to inspire and foster personal leadership in the service of promoting human rights, gender equality, women’s leadership and climate justice.
Mary Robinson’s extensive personal archive and memorabilia, gifted to University of Galway, will be displayed in exhibitions and study rooms, making this important collection accessible via digitisation.
The collection will be presented so as to engage a wide range of audiences from school groups to families, simultaneously facilitating deeper research by academics and university students. Inclusivity is at the core of the building design, which is universally accessible throughout.
In animating the legacy of Mary Robinson, an advocate for social change, the Centre will become a Centre for Change - a focal point for schools, the Irish public and for tourists to see and understand Mary’s legacy, and to be inspired to take action themselves.
A strong online presence and a programme of community events, learning activities and international conferences are key elements of the wider interpretative scheme. University of Galway will integrate the Centre and its offering into existing and new human rights, equality and climate undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
Throughout, Mary Robinson’s legacy will be employed as a jumping off point to provoke critical thought and discourse around contemporary human rights issues, encouraging people to take individual action to drive change for good.
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meitheal in action
First mooted by the local community in 2008, the Centre is developed and managed by a voluntary fundraising and governance board, together with Mary Robinson, who has been involved in the project since its inception. The Board, together with its partners Mayo County Council and the University of Galway are committed to realising their shared vision to develop a tourism and education centre in Mary Robinson’s home town of Ballina that will perpetuate the impressive legacy of Mary's career, bringing academic and tourism opportunity to the region.
The realisation of The Mary Robinson Centre and its activities has been a supreme voluntary effort, most particularly in the town of Ballina and amongst its global diaspora, giving this project momentum and making it a truly collaborative project.
In 2020, at the Centre’s International Human Rights Lecture, Ballina Chamber of Commerce and the wider community committed to the Ballina – Green Town initiative, designed to pave a sustainable, environmentally aware future for Ballina, in partnership with The Mary Robinson Centre and inspired by Mary Robinson and her work.
The realisation of The Mary Robinson Centre and its activities has been a supreme voluntary effort, most particularly in the town of Ballina and amongst its global diaspora, giving this project momentum and making it a truly collaborative project.
In 2020, at the Centre’s International Human Rights Lecture, Ballina Chamber of Commerce and the wider community committed to the Ballina – Green Town initiative, designed to pave a sustainable, environmentally aware future for Ballina, in partnership with The Mary Robinson Centre and inspired by Mary Robinson and her work.
