Were I planning a social media campaign for a platform famously associated with young people, as driven as she may be, Mary Robinson would not be my first choice to spearhead said campaign.
Maybe that’s why I’m not a campaign planner, though, because that’s precisely who TikTok have turned to for a new climate initiative that aims to get young people involved in its ‘Youth Climate Leaders Alliance’, which is a programme aimed at 18-30-year-olds looking to tackle climate change.
It’s being run in partnership with the – I’ve always thought – humbly-named Mary Robinson Centre, which will run an 8 month climate leadership workshop series for the lucky participants, who’ll also be treated to the Mary Robinson Climate Conference hosted by – guess who – Mary Robinson later this year in Ballina.
I don’t doubt the programme will get a decent uptake if for no other reason than it’ll look good on a CV in this climate-conscious age, but I can’t help but think it might not be as effective at drawing young people as it could be, for the simple reason that while Mary Robinson is obviously a name of note to Mary Robinson and everyone of a certain generation, her name doesn’t carry the same weight with the youth of Ireland.
Admittedly, at 28 and as a married father of one, I’m not a spokesperson for our young people, but I do fall within the range the programme is targeting and I, as much as any well-meaning inhabitant of planet earth, care about treating the world rightly.
With all due respect to our former president, my experience of Mary Robinson – beyond being aware of the role she played in my country’s history – is scrolling past her admittedly infrequent appearances on my various social media feeds. This is born of no animosity, it’s simply as a result of little to no connection with Mrs Robinson. Even though I’m no fan of her’s, I’m more likely to be caught by Greta Thunberg-related content, even if only out of a morbid curiosity as to what she’s done this time.
Before anyone accuses me of ageism, I have nothing but the utmost respect for our elders – especially one of the Elders. There is most certainly a place for those who’ve walked the walk to share with those just setting out their wisdom and experience, to give greenhorns advice that will benefit both them and the world.
However, if climate change is as urgent a threat as everyone – Mrs Robinson included – claims it to be, I’d imagine cold, hard efficiency probably ought to be our guiding light over and above sentimentality. For a company the scope and scale of TikTok, would, say, Leonardo DiCaprio have been out of reach (TikTok’s US-troubles aside for a moment)? A face that’s been plastered all over our screens for years, in movies beloved by young and old alike, and a man who clearly spends much time and effort on this very topic.
The reality is that the explosive rhetoric so often used to drive home the overwhelming catastrophe climate change presents us with is constantly undercut by the luxuriating of those sending dispatches from the frontlines of fight. It’s a tired, old line at this stage but no less true, I think, because of it: if they were deadly serious about the necessity of cutting our emissions, would they not be carrying out climate conferences over Zoom rather than flying thousands of people around the world on a regular basis?
Similarly, if getting young people engaged in climate activism and leadership is the goal, as is this programme’s intent, could a better candidate than Mary Robinson not have been suggested, especially for an app that is famous for frying its users’ attention spans? She might have been somewhat miffed to have been overlooked, considering her considerable expertise, but sacrifices have to be made. There are lives and livelihoods at stake here, I understand.
After all, if you were to draw a Venn diagram with avid TikTok users on the one hand and devotees of Mary Robinson’s climate efforts on the other, I’m not sure there’d be all that much overlap. With 18-24 year olds being the largest demographic using TikTok in Ireland, followed by 25-34 year olds (although I’d imagine unstated under-18s must be in the mix here somewhere too) I find it hard to believe that Mrs Robinson’s brand is going to stop their scrolling and capture their hearts and minds.
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Jason – your relatively tender age means that the “cheerleading” of M. Robinson’s Presidency by the Irish Times, back in the early to mid 1990s, will not be something you’re likely to be aware of. “Presidential Jet Flies Low” was one headline at the time – to an article reporting that the jet carrying the President – from some official business or other abroad – flew low over an area (in Africa, I think) that had been the scene of some natural disaster or other (I kid you not). There are still some – in the circles of the powerful elite – who place great store by M. Robinson and I suspect this explains Tik Tok’s decision (though I agree it doesn’t seem to be soundly based). Thankfully, another of the former occupants of the Aras – Mary McAleese – was given the deaf ear by the most of the electorate in the recent referendums – I refer to her imploring the mere Irish to vote “Yes” on March 8 last.
You are so right. The media was daft about her and all they wrote and said was daft. I expect they were paid to be daft about her.
I kills me to say it about any Fianna Fail minister but P Flynn was right about this lassie.
Jesus wept! Turning to a committee of 300 member who wants the population of the world reduced to 500m. We need to run a save the kids campaign. I never forget her going for that lad at cop who would not commit to anything and he had to point it out to her that there was literally no actual facts to prove what she was waffling about. She is a reminder of the dark days when the wool could be pulled over the publics mind with ease. Little did we know of the manipulation her and her ilk were up to. Somebody wake the kids up and fast, all she is doing is brain washing them.
Could they not find anything else that talks more sense than Mary? Even a half-eaten turnip?
I am not going to comment on Mary Robinson’s legal and political contributions in Ireland or her membership of the group called “The Elders” or UN work. I do want to focus on her use of language and science. She has helped popularize the phrase “climate justice.”
“Justice is fairness in the way that people are treated.” (Collins English Dictionary). We usually think of this in the context of the law and courts.
Climate is a natural phenomenon. It is the pattern of weather conditions for an area over a long period of time, usually centuries. The Köppen climate classification for convenience recognized 30 climate zones and sub-zones across our globe.
How can one speak of “climate justice” when examining a natural phenomenon? This assumes we can actually influence the climate across each of these zones. This also implies we can engineer a perfect climate across each by human intervention. This is ludicrous. There is what we call the Urban Heat Island effect (UHI) where cities are some degrees warmer than the surrounding countryside. However, this does not change the climate of the climate zone in which they are established.
Someone, who as an adult, has been able to observe different weather patterns over 60 years, should notice how empirical observations cannot be reconciled with climate alarmism. One day heat is climate change, the next cold. Then floods are climate change, the next day droughts. Then gales are, then no wind for a week are.
Finally it should be evident to a sharp legal mind that the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) executive summary contradicts important points that the text of the full report makes.
Sadly, Mary Robinson has misled many with her promotion of climate justice. Now she is misleading children about climate and weather in promoting the climate alarmist narrative. I doubt she has carefully examined the arguments of the Clintel Foundation who say There is no climate emergency. This has been signed by over 1900 scientists and professionals from 60 different countries. A lawyer, who is deeply concerned about justice will hear the best arguments from both sides. Has Mary Robinson listened to both and considered that this may well be alarmist fraud?
The day they stop serving beef in the Dail restaurant and turn off their central heating in Leinster house is the day I will begin to assess my opinion that we are being lied to about climate change. If these people really believed there was a climate emergency they would be going hell for leather to develop nuclear power. Instead of trying to solve the problem they say exists they have decided to attack the working class as their first resort. All utter crap to keep you down. They make no secret of wanting a world population of 500 million. In other words 11 out of twelve of us will have to go. I doubt that Robinson or the Leprechaun up in the park will be leading in this population reduction by example.
The woman who showed her contempt for the office of the Presidency to which she was elected by the citizens when she left before completing her term of office to take up a job with the UN
Whatever happened to her UAE friends’ daughter in the end ?
She was just ‘unwell’ remember…..
If she was unwell then she is really unwell now they have her back. Robinson is a hypocrite.
She meddled there too, in a hugely embarrassing and patronising way. None of her business.
Leonardo Di Caprio? You can. D listers needed bungs too, especially when they can no longer justify the enslavement of women in the Gulf State. I saw through that upstart tart from the very start. Her whole life, even into her dotage, is one spent at the public trough/
Ah the elder lemon – gets in everywhere
Past her sell by date…
Use by…
Best by
Kids love being patronised by their betters
And here’s to you Mrs Robinson…
Has the temple in Mayo been finished? I’d like go on a pilgrimage, and bask in the elder humanitarian aura..hang on tik- wha? better read the article…
TikTok the chinese spyware app banned in the US is embraced by the clown brigade in Dail Eireann and the political class in Ireland, you couldnt make this up
Test post for images.
https://imgflip.com/i/8mgc4f
Those of us who lived through her time did not support her, as she belonged to a minority liberal Labour view. She was promoted by the usual radical feminist activists in the media, with their fawning adulation, ad nauseum. She was never popular, but they made her out to be popular. RTÉ specialised in Robinson euphoria and excitement. All pretence. Robinson was as exciting as dishwater. She made the word, diaspora, popular, one of her favourite buzzwords and the Irish diaspora would be peppered throughout her talks. She thought that word put her ahead. Before that, we called them exiles. She’d have lights going too, that she’d mention again, to guide home the diaspora. Pure bull. She never mentioned their actual return, as it never happened, because it was never meant to happen, it was only the Robinson brand, you heard. All waffle. Listen to one speech and you heard them all. She never said anything new. Adored by the feminists, who couldn’t get enough of her. The freedom that the feminists crave was high on her agenda. She would be one of the earliest to start liberalizing Ireland, with divorce, to give people freedom. She was one of the first wokes. You wouldn’t hear of her now at all, thankfully. Those who promoted her are retired and gone and the Robinson persona with them. Every dog has his day.
She is my hero, she inspired me and my entire village to relocate to Ireland
And your entire village here too. That’s exactly what she’d do. Off the wall. Now she’s into the weather, for a day.
This man is fictitious. I googled him. The only hit I got was the comment above and another comment on Gript where he said old widows in big houses should move out to accommodate other people in need. He is just trying to stir it I think
Alas true about the relocation but as the Dutch politician Gert Wilders said “we will do something about that”.
This man is fictitious. I googled him. The only hit I got was the comment above and another comment on Gript where he said old widows in big houses should move out to accommodate other people in need. He is just trying to stir it I think
This man is fictitious. I googled him. The only hit I got was the comment above and another comment on Gript where he said old widows in big houses should move out to accommodate other people in need. He is just trying to stir it I think.