Aftermath

While the role of the presidency in day to day politics is a very limited one the Robinson presidency is regarded by many observers as a watershed in Irish society symbolising the shift away from the conservative ultracatholic male-dominated Ireland which existed up until the end of the 1980s to the more liberal society symbolised by Robinson.

Robinson is generally credited with raising the profile of the office of president which had being considered little more than an honorary figurehead position under her predecessors. Indeed prior to the Robinson presidency it was not unusual to hear commentators advocating the abolition of the office of president (a viewpoint that is almost never advanced nowadays).