Ireland's first female pres elected

ON THIS day 35 years ago, Ireland made history when voters elected its first female president, Mary Robinson.

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Robinson, who ran as an independent and beat the frontrunner, Fianna Fáil candidate Brian Lenihan, said upon her victory: "I was elected by the women of Ireland, who instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system."

A reforming constitutional lawyer and senator in her early career, Robinson was born into a deeply Catholic family. She married a Protestant cartoonist, Nicholas Robinson, and her parents, both doctors, chose not to attend the marriage.