The former president of Ireland, Dr Mary McAleese, has delivered a searing critique of the global political climate, warning that democracy, human rights and the rule of law are under grave threat from “warmongering talk” and the rise of undemocratic leaders.
Mary McAleese, who served as president of Ireland from 1997 to 2011 and is known for her advocacy of human rights, peace and reconciliation, was speaking at an Irish Rule of Law International event at the Law Society in Dublin. Her address ranged across the erosion of democratic norms, the economics of war, the existential threat of climate change, and the importance of global institutions in upholding accountability and cooperation.
She urged renewed commitment to international frameworks such as the European Union and the International Criminal Court (ICC) — describing the EU as “a blessed miracle” and calling both vital pillars of global cooperation that must be defended rather than weakened.
Remarkably, coming out of the Second World War, we hear now more warmongering talk, all of which can feed the big business that is a multiplicity of business that spin out of the war machine,” she said. “The sacredness of the human person, the sacredness of the earth — these things have got to be embedded in the employment of capital and big business, and without that, you get a wrecking match, which is what we have.”
McAleese warned of “backsliding” in the rule of law, particularly in countries that once considered themselves democratic strongholds.
I have been reflecting on the backsliding in relation to democracy and the rule of law,” she said. “Rather tragically, famous democracies are now the centre of that backsliding. And yet they use the words democracy and rule of law, but in a sense that none of us would recognise as having any credibility.”
She added:
We only have to look at democracies, including in the European Union, where they have elected people who are not exemplars of the rule of law or respect for human rights. It’s an awful sad thing for me to see democracies capable of electing autocrats and people with second-century imperial ambitions.”
The former Irish president linked the erosion of democratic norms to the economics of war and environmental degradation, arguing that both stem from a failure to place human dignity and the planet at the heart of global decision-making.
The sacredness of the human person and the sacredness of the earth have to be at the heart of how we deploy capital,” she said. “Without that, you get a wrecking match — and that’s what we’re seeing.”
McAleese described the International Criminal Court as an essential safeguard against impunity and a symbol of the world’s capacity to “dare to care”.
If countries are not signed up to it, they can walk away from responsibility,” she said. “But the fact that it exists — that it can hear evidence, make decisions, hand them down — sends a message to all people under abusers of the rule of law that outside of them, there’s a world that actually dares to care.”
She also defended the European Union as a cornerstone of postwar peace, urging citizens not to turn away from it.
If you have problems with the European Union, remember why it’s there, what it does — that it’s the most noble thing any cohort of people have attempted in known human history,” she said. “You don’t walk away from it because today you’re mad about various policies. You stay and fight your ground.”
Her remarks — at once elegiac and defiant — underscored the fragility of the international order at a time of resurgent nationalism, environmental crisis and renewed global conflict. McAleese also called on religious institutions and faith leaders to play a more active role in confronting the ideologies and power structures that justify violence, exploitation and indifference.
“Constituencies that are not engaged in that very debate are, in my view, the religious entities in this world,” she said. “Four out of five people in the world subscribe to one of the major religious traditions — these are huge influencers. They need to be drawn into a debate within secular society, civic society, the economies of big business.”
Her closing warning was stark:
We are facing existential crises, and they are upon us in this generation.”
Dr. Mary McAleese with Irish Rule of Law International Executive Director, Maria McCloskey.