Material relating to the convening of the Council of State to examine the Equal Status Bill, 1997, following summoning to do so by President Mary Robinson (MR), including memo from Peter Ryan (PR), Secretary to the Government, to MR attaching draft schedule and draft press release for meeting, 29/04/1997; photocopies of discussion in Dáil Éireann on Equal Status Bill, 1997, second stage, 27th February 1997, in Seanad Éireann, second state and committee stage, 15th, 17th April 1997; transcript from Seanad Éireann on Equal Status Bill, 1997, Report and Final Stages, [17?]/04/1997; photocopies of Equal Status Bill, 1997 as passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas and Explanatory and Financial Memorandum; typed agenda and seating arrangements for meeting of Council of State, 06/05/1997, and seating plan for formal photograph; letter from Campaign to Separate Church and State, raising concerns over the Bill, with cover note from PR in which he noted he would circulate letter to Council of State members, 05-06/05/1997; minutes of 21st meeting of the Council of State, Council of State Room, 6th May, signed by MR 12/05/1997; correspondence between Dr TK Whitaker and Mr Gerard Hogan, Barrister at Law, on whether if a Bill were referred for judgement by the Supreme Court on a section only, whether their judgement affected the whole Bill, 04/04-06/05/1997; report on meeting of 21st meeting of the Council of State, 06/05/1997.

Ref: P143/4/14/12/5

Indices to Supreme Court and High Court written judgements, 1976-1989 (P143/4/14/13/1), 1990-1992 and 1996 (P143/4/14/13/2), compiled for the Bar Council and Incorporated Law Society; copies of "Gazette" newsletter, giving summaries of Irish cases, December 1977 - July/August 1992 (P143/4/14/13/3) and selected Employment Appeals Tribunal Cases, supplement to the "Gazette", 1978-1982, 1987-1988 (P143/4/14/13/4).

This material was kept together based on pre-existing arrangement and overlaps with Legal Series P143/1. It is unclear whether it was gathered during Mary Robinson’s presidential term or prior to it.

Ref: P143/4/14/13

Material relating to the role of the President of Ireland, how it was traditionally perceived, and how Mary Robinson sought to use her experience as a constitutional lawyer to widen the scope of the presidency and test the limits of powers as per Irish constitution. It includes material relating to the resignation from office of former President of Ireland Cearbhaill Ó Dálaigh (P143/4/15/1), briefing documentation sent to MR when she was announced as the winner of the Presidential election (P143/4/15/2) and material relating to an invite from The Ford Foundation to MR to serve as co-chair of an Independent Working Group on the Future of the United Nations, the Irish Government's refusal based on legal advice from the Attorney General, and subsequent correspondence relating to MR seeking out independent legal advice (P143/4/15/4,5).

Ref: P143/4/15

Documents relating to former President of Ireland Cearbhaill Ó Dálaigh resigning from office (22/10/1976) and letter of apology from then Minister for Defence [Patrick S Donegan] for calling him a "Thundering Disgrace"(19/10/1976), 19/07-09/11/1976; photocopy of final draft of report of inter-departmental committee on "President's Allowance", Department of the Taoiseach, September 1978.

Ref: P143/4/15/1

Photocopy of brief on role of President of Ireland, "Uachtarán na hÉireann" [President of Ireland], dated 7th November 1990, the day Mary Robinson was announced as winner of Presidential election; briefing documentation on Acts of the Oireachtas which refer to the President [11/1990?].

Ref: P143/4/15/2

Photocopy of faxed partial transcript of Dáil Éireann [lower House of Irish Parliament] debate [parliamentary questions] where An Taoiseach [Albert Reynolds] was asked about the powers of the President and the requirement for her to get cabinet approval even to go on private holiday abroad, 19/02/1992; photocopy of chapter eight of unidentified book on the X Case [a constitutional case on whether a 14-year-old girl who had become pregnant as a result of rape could access abortion in the United Kingdom (see P143/4/6/1/3/1 and P143/4/6/4/3)], which examined specifically the role of Mary Robinson in the case, opining that she was in breach of the constitution when she spoke which may have affected the outcome.

Ref: P143/4/15/3

Material relating to an invite from The Ford Foundation to President Mary Robinson (MR) to serve as co-chair of an Independent Working Group on the Future of the United Nations, the Irish Government's refusal based on legal advice from the Attorney General, and subsequent correspondence relating to MR seeking out independent legal advice. It includes photocopy of the invite from the Ford Foundation, 17/11/1993; photocopy of letter from MR to Taoiseach Charles Haughey, 24/07/1991, in which she refers to the legal opinion received by Government previously which she felt focussed too narrowly on certain subsections of the Constitution relating to the Office of the President, and which includes the opinion of the Attorney General on "the Constitutional Freedom of the President of Ireland", 31/05/1991; briefing material ahead of meeting between MR and Taoiseach to discuss the invite, 13/12/1993; correspondence between MR, Peter Ryan (PR), Secretary to the Government, Frank Murray, Secretary to the Government, and Brian McCarthy, Assistant Secretary to the Government in relation to Government's decision not to allow MR accept invite, as well as to source of leaks of the discussions to the Press, and MR's intention to seek legal advice independently on role of President, 13-30/12/1993; correspondence between PR and MR on seeking further legal opinion, and draft documents prepared for "Request for Advice", 21-[23?]/12/1993; copy of letters sent by PR to Mr Frank Clarke, SC [Senior Counsel], and Mr Gerry Durcan, Barrister at Law in relation to request for advice sought, 30/12/1993; photocopies of articles in The Irish Times and The Irish Independent on Government's refusal to allow MR accept invitation, 12/1993.

Ref: P143/4/15/4

Material relating to an invite from The Ford Foundation to President Mary Robinson to serve as co-chair of an Independent Working Group on the Future of the United Nations, the Irish Government's refusal based on legal advice from the Attorney General, and subsequent correspondence relating to MR seeking out independent legal advice. It includes two copies of official Legal Opinion (Querist: "The President of Ireland Mrs Mary Robinson, Subject: "The function and role of the President under the provisions of the Constitution", signed by Mr Frank Clarke, SC [Senior Counsel], and Mr Gerry Durcan, Barrister at Law, 17/01/1994; two copies of Supplementary Legal Opinion (subject: The validity of a decision of the Government that the President should not accept an invitation to serve as co-chair of an Independent Working Group on the Future of the United Nations", signed by Clarke and Durcan, 17/01/1994; drafts of opinions with notation; correspondence between Peter Ryan (PR), Secretary to the President and Frank Murray (FM), Secretary to the Government in relation to the Legal Opinion of 17th January and requesting final decision on invite, 17-20/01/1994; correspondence between Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dick Spring, and MR including drafts, in relation to Government's decision not to allow MR accept invitation, 20/01/1994; briefing note with notations for meeting with Taoiseach, 21/01/1994; photocopies of correspondence between PR and FM in relation to and including transcripts of comments and questions in the Dáil on the controversy, and photocopies of articles in the press, 17-24/02/1994.

Ref: P143/4/15/5

Photocopy of letter from Frank Murray, Secretary to the Government, to Colm Butler, Deputy Secretary to the President in relation to and including a chapter from Peter Drucker's book "Managing in a Time of Great Change", on "Six Rules for Presidents", 02/11/1995.

Ref: P143/4/15/6

Paper by Valerie Bresnihan, Lecturer, Equality Studies Centre, University College, Dublin: "The Symbolic Power of Ireland's President Robinson"; published in Presidential Studies Quarterly [scholarly journal that focuses on the President of the United States] [June 1999?].

Ref: P143/4/15/7