Mary Robinson's emigrant light shines in museum

THE symbolic emigrant light that shone in the window in Áras an Uachtaráin when Mary Robinson was President of Ireland has gone on display at the Migrant Women: Shared Experiences exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar.

The light was a sign that all the people of Ireland, including those who emigrated, were cherished and remembered.

It is on loan to the Mayo museum until June from the Mary Robinson Centre in Ballina.

Mary Robinson’s light has become an acclaimed symbol of an Ireland remembering its emigrant sons and daughters around the world. She has been credited with creating an important dialogue about the Irish Diaspora.

Serving as the first female president of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, Mary Robinson later served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002.