Editing Mary Robinson (section)

== Legal career and time in {{lang|ga|Seanad Éireann|italic=no}} (1967–1990) ==
{{main|Seanad career of Mary Robinson|Legal career of Mary Robinson}}
[[File:LeinsterHouseDublin2010.JPG|thumb|[[Leinster House]], which houses {{lang|ga|Seanad Éireann|italic=no}}]]
In 1969, aged 25, Bourke was appointed [[Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology|Reid Professor of Criminal Law]] at Trinity College.<ref name="bbc00" /> That same year, Bourke was first elected to {{lang|ga|[[Seanad Éireann]]|italic=no}} as an [[Independent politician (Ireland)|independent]] senator.<ref name="oireachtas_db" /> Her goals as a senator were "to open up Ireland and separate Catholic teaching from aspects of the criminal law and therefore reform the law on contraceptives, legalise homosexuality and change the constitutional ban on divorce."<ref>{{cite web|date=September 2012|title=In Profile: Mary Robinson|url=https://www.ucd.ie/businessalumni/news/inprofile/maryrobinson/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208115222/https://www.ucd.ie/businessalumni/news/inprofile/maryrobinson/|archive-date=8 February 2022|access-date=8 February 2022|website=UCD.ie}}</ref> Her time in office is most closely associated with these issues, as well as securing the right for women to serve on juries and her involvement with the [[Wood Quay]] protests.

In 1970, she married [[Nicholas Robinson (historian)|Nicholas Robinson]], with whom she had a relationship since they were law students and who was then practising as a solicitor. They have three children together.{{sfn|Horgan|1997|p=33}}

A result of Ireland joining the European Economic Community was that two of Robinson's key goals were met: Ireland was required to offer women in the public service equal pay to men, which came into effect in June 1973; and in July the [[marriage bar]] for women in the civil service was lifted.{{Sfn|Horgan|1997|p=50}}

In late July 1976, Robinson joined the Labour Party, though she later left the party in 1985.{{Sfn|Horgan|1997|p=58}} Whilst a member of the party, she ran for [[Dáil Éireann]], including the [[1981 Irish general election|1981 general election]] for [[Dublin West (Dáil constituency)|Dublin West]], but failed to win a seat.[[File:Trinity College Dublin 2.jpg|thumb|[[Trinity College Dublin]].<br />Robinson served as Reid Professor of Law in the university, as well as being one of its three elected senators in {{lang|ga|Seanad Éireann|italic=no}} for twenty years.]]During her time in office, Robinson won several landmark court cases. She first fought a gender-based case in the Labour Court on behalf of her husband. Under the pension scheme in place for politicians at the time, the widows of politicians were often entitled to pensions, but widowers were not. On 12 May 1979, the court ruled in her favour.{{Sfn|Horgan|1997|p=92}} In July 1979, she appeared in court on behalf of a couple who alleged that the Irish tax system was discriminatory as the tax allowances available to couples were less than double those available to single people. A court decision in their favour was made in October but was appealed by the Irish government. The Supreme Court eventually ruled in favour of the couple in April 1980.{{sfn|Horgan|1997|p=92}} Robinson also lost a groundbreaking case in the [[European Court of Justice]], the first case in which the court granted legal aid to a plaintiff.{{sfn|Horgan|1997|p=92-93}}

On 23 May 1989, Robinson announced that she would not be seeking re-election, and on 5 July 1989, Robinson served as a senator on her last day in her {{lang|ga|Seanad|italic=no}} career.{{sfn|O'Sullivan|1993|p=160}}