World is at a ‘tipping point’, says Hillary on Dublin visit
WEARING one of her trademark pantsuits, Hillary Clinton strode into a standing ovation at the Edmund Burke Lecture Hall of Trinity College Dublin yesterday.
In town to receive an honorary degree, the former US secretary of state jokingly reacquainted herself with her Irish audience.
‘A lot has happened since I was last in Ireland,’ she quipped.
‘I became a grandmother twice over, which is just about the greatest thing in the world. As you may have heard, I ran for president. That didn’t exactly work out how I had hoped.’
Mrs Clinton didn’t hesistate to tear into the victor in that contest, Donald Trump, whom she decried for using little children as ‘political pawns’.
In an impassioned speech, she said the US President’s recent U-turn on separating children from their parents only came about because of the ‘outcry from every corner of our country and from every corner of the world’.
‘We are living through an era when fundamental rights, civic virtue, even facts and reason are under assault like never before,’ she told her audience.
‘As we have been painfully reminded in my own country, the consequences are severe.
‘Over the last few weeks, Americans from every political background, ideology and walk of life watched heartbroken as immigrant families were ripped apart, and immigrant children were treated cruelly as political pawns.’
Mrs Clinton said she met a woman with her young baby Ryan yesterday morning and ‘while we were cooing and aahhing and getting smiles’ out of the infant, she thought: ‘How could this be, babies as young as this one – some even younger – ripped from their mothers, sent into foster care with strangers, some of them 1,000 or more miles away from our southern border?
‘Yet even in this dark hour, we are witnessing an outpouring of moral conviction, civic engagement and... commitment to stand up for the most vulnerable among us.
‘In response to the onslaught of attacks on the most vulnerable, millions of people have become unlikely activists calling their elected representatives, flooding social media, organising rallies, protests and marches, contributing to frontline groups.
‘In fact, it was because of the outcry from every corner of our country and from every corner of the world, that the Trump administration was finally forced to take at least a step toward ending family separation, though the fight is far from over – because the more than 2,000 children who were taken have not yet been reunited with their parents.’
Among those listening were former president Mary Robinson, former tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald and Catherine Martin of the Green Party. Taking a question from a student who introduced herself as being president of ‘The Phil’ society, Mrs Clinton poked fun at her own expense as she congratulated her on her presidency, before looking at Ms Robinson and stating that she was surrounded by ‘women presidents’, provoking a warm reaction from the audience.
She also moved to heap praise upon the ‘grassroots activism’ – particularly from engaged younger voters – which she hailed for ensuring a win in last month’s referendum on the Eighth Amendment.
‘The Irish abortion referendum was an inspiring sight,’ she said. ‘People flew home to vote from all over the world. The airports were mini-rallies, with cheering and colourful banners greeting travellers as they arrived from as far away from Japan, Australia, and of course America.
‘And on the day of the vote, one of strictest anti-abortion laws in the world was overturned with nearly 87% of 18- to 25-year-olds voting Yes. It was an example of grassroots activism fuelled by young people and a triumph of the democratic process.’
The former US First Lady also warned that we were at a ‘global tipping point’ – a ‘moment that will determine whether we embrace the principles of free people, human rights and democracy or retreat to closed societies, oppression and authoritarianism’. Paraphrasing Samuel Beckett, himself a Trinity graduate, she concluded by saying, ‘We need to try again, fail again, and fail better… let’s get to work.’
A small number of protesters chanted ‘warmongers not welcome’ but they were drowned out by applause for Mrs Clinton.
‘Facts and reason are under attack’