We look at the memoirs of two previous presidents

With all the talk of the colour purple, it is only right this week to visit the autobiographies of President Connolly’s predecessors.

Starting with the OG, Mary Robinson’s memoir Everybody Matters is a warm, human telling of her childhood in Ballina, running away to marry her husband Martin, and getting her MA from Harvard.

She was one of just three women in her class studying law at Trinity and then at age 25, she was elected as a Senator. 

For those who think this is just a book about politics, think again.

It’s jaw-dropping, even for those who lived through it, to see the small little battles she fought even in quite a privileged position.

The book is funny, full of nuggets of insight into a figurehead who is formidable, but only got where she did through diplomacy, warmth, and keeping her cool when she must have wanted to scream.

Her battles with Haughey are good for a laugh, as are those with her assistant and the flowers.

When she took up the job of  United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, they wanted to pay her wage into her husband’s bank account.

This is the kind of book that will have you annoying everyone in the room with: ‘Listen to this!’

It’ll be the same with Mary McAleese’s Here’s the Story. This writer bought an autographed copy as a Christmas gift for her mother but immediately stole it, and hasn’t given it back.

McAleese’s story is almost meditative; for those of us down here who have been shielded from reality in the north of Ireland and its recent history, this book is a light, bewildering, educational touch, not a tome of history. 

Humour peppers each of these books, because these are funny women.

Recall that Mary Robinson’s first interivew as President was on The Den, with Dustin, Zig, and Zag. 

In that spirit, treat yourself to the Bunch of Marys episode of Moone Boy, book yourself a 90s perm, and enjoy the horror of  Steve Coogan’s lecherous support of women’s rights.