File 4 - Role of President Part 4

80pp

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

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06/11/2024