Advertisement

<i> A weekly look at noteworthy addresses in the Southland.</i>

Share via

Irish President Mary Robinson addressed the Los Angeles World Affairs Council on Wednesday. From her prepared text: Ireland: a Bridge to the European Community “ . . . We are your nearest neighbor in Europe, and we are ideally situated geographically, linguistically, and historically to be a bridge between a rapidly evolving European Community and the United States as the actions of Ireland during our Presidency of the EC--in completing a formal agreement on consultative arrangements between the Community and the United States . . . will testify.”

Human Rights and the European Market “. . . There are real problems and substantial risks for vulnerable individuals and groups in the fast creation of a European market. Those without language skills or mobility will be particularly at risk. Those with disabilities and dependent relatives, women with small children--these groups who will not necessarily benefit from freedom of movement and may even need to be protected from it.

“Economic opportunities may turn out, for those most at risk, to be nothing more than insecure and low-paid jobs. . . . We (in Ireland) can make sure that new economic opportunities are underpinned by strong democratic structures and compassionate social resources.”

Advertisement

U.S. Investment “American investment--and this is the right city in which to be reminded of it--has played a role in financing two recent Irish films, My Left Foot and The Commitments. Those films . . . tell the raw and vivid truth about life in Dublin in the past and now. . . . I pay tribute to this example because I think it shows what partnership can achieve. With your financial support we have been able to make a distinctive cultural statement across an ocean.”

Looking Ahead Tuesday: At noon in Century City, Moscow Mayor Gavriil K. Popov will speak at the Century Plaza Hotel. Sponsored by the Los Angeles World Affairs Council and Pepperdine University School of Business and Management. For information call (213) 628-2333.

Thursday: At 7:30 p.m. in Los Angeles, Vaclav Havel, president of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, will speak at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. Sponsored by the Los Angeles World Affairs Council and the Constitutional Rights Foundation. For information call (213) 628-2333.

Advertisement

Friday: At noon in Los Angeles, James R. Schlesinger, former secretary of Defense and CIA director, will address Town Hall of California at the Sheraton Grande Hotel. For information call (213) 628-8141.

Announcements concerning prominent speakers in Los Angeles should be sent to Speaking Up, care of Times researcher Michael Meyers, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, Calif. 90053.

Advertisement