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

Bound typed official Supreme Court decision, signed by Liam Hamilton, Chief Justice, 19/06/1997, "The Supreme Court 156/97 In the Matter of Article 26 of the Constitution of Ireland And In the Matter of the Equal Status Bill, 1997", referred by President Mary Robinson to Supreme Court on 07 May 1997, and heard in oral hearing before the Court over six days between 10th and 11th May 199[7].

Ref: P143/4/14/8

Bound typed official Supreme Court decision, signed by Liam Hamilton, Chief Justice, "The Supreme Court 118/97 In the Matter of Article 26 of the Constitution of Ireland And In the Matter of The Employment Equality Bill, 1996", referred by President Mary Robinson to Supreme Court on 03 April 1997, and heard in oral hearing before the Court over six days between 29th April and 7th May 1997.

Ref: P143/4/14/7