This evening RCSI welcomes very special guest Mary Robinson, President of the Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice, Former President of Ireland & Former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to receive the Emily Winifred Dickson Award. The Award was established in honour of Emily Winifred Dickson who was the first female Fellow (1893) of the surgical Royal Colleges in Britain and Ireland. This distinguished award recognises women who have made an outstanding contribution to their field.
In honour of her visit, we take a look back at two previous occasions in which Mary Robinson has visited the College.
The first was in 1991 when Mary Robinson, as President of Ireland, officially opened the new RCSI Mercer Library and Mercer Medical Centre. This site was formerly Mercer's Hospital and had closed its doors in 1983 after almost 250 years of medical service. In 1984, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland purchased the building and decided to rebuild is so that it could continue as a medical institution once more.
The refurbishment project was completed in several phases, the first being a student hall of residence (Millin House) opening in 1986 in the former nurses home. The College's Department of General Practice moved to the Mercer Medical Centre on the ground floor, which housed a group practice, a suite of academic and tutorial rooms, plus an international immunisation clinic and tropical medicine centre. The final phase was the completion of the Mercer Library on the top three floors of the building including individual and group study spaces as well as the Heritage Collections.
 |
| Renovation work in progress |
 |
| Program of Mercer Building official opening |
On the 12th September 1991, the President of Ireland officially opened the refurbished building. Accompanied by RCSI President, Mr William P. Hederman and former RCSI Librarian Beatrice Doran, Mary Robinson was given a first glance of the restored building in all its glory. The library was built behind the retained 'Mary Mercer' and 'Ledwich' wings of the former hospital. The old stonework was cleaned and repaired and a new facade was built to replace the Napier Wing on Johnston's Place. The library was a blend of the the old and new. The best features of the 18th and 19th century building were retained and restored, including the clock tower and the original main door on Johnston's Place. Behind the facade, however, was a 20th century hi-tech building designed according to the modern principles of library design and equipped with the latest technology of that time.
 |
| Beatrice Doran, RCSI Librarian & President Mary Robinson, 12th September 1991 |
 |
| Mary O'Doherty, Assistant Librarian, Beatrice Doran, Librarian & President Mary Robinson at the Official Opening of the Mercer Library |
 |
| President Mary Robinson performing the official opening of the Mercer Building with RCSI President William P. Hederman |
President Mary Robinson's second visit was 3 years later when RCSI awarded the President with an Honorary Fellowship on the 12th February 1994. The ceremony in College Hall was attended by dignitaries from the medical profession, the diplomatic corps, the government and State bodies. The citation for the Honorary Fellowship described President Robinson as "the most widely acclaimed, the most frequently quoted, the most widely travelled and certainly the most visible, committed and accessible President in the history of this State."
The citation continued: "The President's mercy mission to Somalia and her subsequent visit to the United Nations to heighten international awareness of the suffering there, have raised Ireland's reputation around the world as a caring nation. These visits give us particular pleasure in this College where we have students and post-graduate trainees from forty-four different countries."
 |
| President Mary Robinson receives RCSI Honorary Fellowship from RCSI President J. Dermot O'Flynn |
Welcoming President Robinson as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, RCSI President, Mr J. Dermot O'Flynn said: "We, as surgeons, are concerned with the quality of life of our patients. President Robinson has written that the 'concept of quality of life does not just mean standard of living, it means the power to influence decisions affecting the livelihood and the environment of the citizen'. She has accordingly dedicate her life to this end."
Today, RCSI welcomes back Mary Robinson to receive another prestigious RCSI Award in the College's new clinical healthcare simulation centre, 26 York Street. The award ceremony will be followed by a lecture delivered by Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights who will deliver this year’s lecture ‘Climate Justice and a Healthy Environment’.
 |