Michael Schwartz lowered his notes and stopped speaking for a moment. He then stood up from his chair, walked forward to the woman sitting a few feet in front of him and had her hold them instead.

Schwartz walked back to his chair and smiled at the 75 or so law students and distinguished guests staring back at him. Much better.

‘Our color is orange,’ said Schwartz, SU law professor and director of the Disability Rights Clinic, ‘but today our colors are orange, white and green.’

Schwartz is referring to the visit by the woman sitting immediately to his left, President of Ireland Mary McAleese, who about an hour beforehand spoke in front of a sizeable crowd at Hendricks Chapel about contributions to inclusive education by Syracuse University and its School of Education, among other things.

The question and answer session McAleese had with the SU law students served as the final event of her May 1 visit, which in addition to her speech in Hendricks, included a luncheon at the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel and Conference Center, a walk and placement of flowers at the Place of Remembrance and a tour of the College of Law’s Disability Rights Clinic.

Thomas Maroney, SU law professor, opened up the Q&A by asking McAleese about the legal differences between Ireland and the United States. She said she wasn’t very familiar with the American system but did say Irish students can pursue a law degree at 18, and therefore, skip over the various bachelor degrees U.S. students achieve before entering law school as graduates.

Additionally, once an Irish graduate is qualified to practice in London, for example, the graduate can also practice in Dublin and Belfast, and vice versa, which McAleese dubbed a ‘comfortable relationship.’

Referencing civil rights murders in the South, Associate Law Professor Janis McDonald asked McAleese whether the FBI should continue reopening these cold cases in order to find the justice that some people still deserve.

McAleese said she fully agreed that these types of cases should be pursued by the FBI and mentioned that Northern Ireland police actually opened a department to specifically handle its own cold cases in an effort to understand them, and because a lot can be learned from their examination.

‘Truths are a funny thing,’ McAleese said. ‘It just insists on finding its way to the surface, no matter how much sand and cement you put on it to keep it down.’

The session ended with just two more questions, one of which was geared toward Ireland’s anti-discrimination laws. The president said its laws are ‘relatively new,’ but there are many groups that currently lobby to bring more laws into the fold.

‘I wouldn’t want you to think we’re there,’ said McAleese, referring to how Ireland has laws in place, but is not completely anti-discriminatory.

Published on June 3, 2007 at 12:00 pm