Mary Robinson | |
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| Seanad Éireann Senator | |
| In office 5 November 1969 – 5 July 1989 | |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Independent (before 1977, 1985–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Labour Party (1977–1985) |
The Seanad Éireann career of Mary Robinson (Irish: Máire Mhic Róibín;[1] née Bourke) began on 11 June 1969 and ended on 5 July 1989. Mary Robinson was elected for a total of seven terms as a member of Seanad Éireann (the Irish senate), always running in the Dublin University constituency. Upon leaving her seat in 1989, she did not seek re-election.
Prior to her election, Bourke had already qualified as a lawyer and been called to the Irish Bar, and had been made the Reid Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin. Her legal work and academic career continued concurrent with her Seanad career. First elected as an independent senator, Robinson joined the Labour Party in July 1976 during her second term as senator. Robinson left the Labour Party in 1985 and thereafter worked as an independent politician.
Known for her dissenting voice, Robinson campaigned against the Catholic Church's influence on the Irish state. A self-professed liberal, her time in the Seanad is most strongly associated with her work on issues such as the legalisation of contraception, the legalisation of divorce, the establishment of women's right to sit on juries, and her involvement with the Wood Quay protests.
- ^ Ireland, Office of the President of. "The President Mary Robinson". president.ie. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.