Material in this subseries, including correspondence, reports, flyers and ephemera, relates to Mary Robinson (MR)'s work as a Senator in Seanad Éireann, Ireland's upper house of parliament (Senate), and is further broken into three subsubseries: Seanad Éireann (P143/2/2/1) which covers election campaigns, correspondence to and from colleagues and members of the public, addresses given at events and reports and research; former Member of Oireachtas (P143/2/2/2) which covers correspondence MR sent/received as a former member of the Oireachtas [Irish Parliament], and the Irish Parliamentary Joint Committee on EC [European Community] Secondary Legislation, 1977-1989 (P143/2/2/3) for which MR was a member and contributed.

MR was first elected to the Seanad in 1969, as an independent candidate and under her maiden name (Bourke). This was Ireland's 12th Seanad since its formation. She was elected to the 13th Seanad in 1973 under her married name, having married in 1970, and again as an independent (Ind) candidate. She was subsequently elected five more times: 14th Seanad, 1977-1981, Labour (Lab); 15th Seanad 1981-1982, Lab; 16th Seanad, 1982-1983, Lab; 17th Seanad, 1983-1987, Lab; 18th Seanad, 1987-1989, Ind. Following 20 years as an elected member of Seanad Éireann she chose not to put herself forward for the following election.

Her work as a Senator also overlaps with her work as a lawyer, in particular in family law, including in relation to campaigning and then legislating for the removal of the ban on contraception and divorce (see P143/1/3).

[Archivist's note: A Seanad election takes place up to 90 days after Dáil Éireann [lower house of Irish parliament] has dissolved. This means that the new Dáil has assembled before the Seanad election takes place. Often candidates who were unsuccessful in the general election who were eligible to run for the Seanad, would do so, or would get nominated as part of the Taoiseach's nominees. (Forty-nine of the Seanad’s 60 members are elected and 11 are nominated by the Taoiseach.) Of the 49 elected members, 43 are elected from panels of candidates representing specified vocational interests. The remaining 6 members are elected by university graduates of certain universities. MR was elected through the Dublin University [Trinity College Dublin] panel to one of 3 panel seats.]