UCD Law

STAFF

Today there are over 40 faculty and 14 professional staff in the school as well as several early career researchers and an exceptional group of visiting and adjunct professors including the current and former Attorneys General, leading Kings Counsel and Senior Counsel, award winning journalists, and scholars from from across the globe.

And, as the School maintains its tradition of student-centred learning through small group teaching for key law subjects, it acknowledges the contribution of its many tutors including recent alumni and our PhD students. As well as welcoming new staff, we have also said goodbye to others, who have moved on to take up positions in universities in Ireland, Germany and the UK and senior administrative posts elsewhere in the university. Paul O’Connor, Tony Kerr, Maureen Reynolds and Caroline Fine have retired, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy of collegiality and professionalism.

We mark the passing of several former colleagues who are hugely respected and sorely missed: Aonghus Cheevers, Andrew Lyall, Nial Osborough. And we continue to miss our colleague, Paul Anthony McDermott. Ar dhéis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha dílse.

We are immensely proud of our faculty’s many public service contributions. Suzanne Kingson was appointed as a judge of the General Court of the European Union in 2022. Oonagh Breen was asked to chair the Independent Review of Charity Regulation in Northern Ireland in 2021, culminating in 93 recommendations for reform. During the same year, she was also appointed to the Board of the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority established by the Minister for Housing. In recognition of her work promoting legal education and research relating to France and Ireland, Marie-Luce Paris was awarded the Chevalier of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques in 2016. Both at home and abroad, colleagues are often invited to give evidence to parliamentary committees, including (for example), Liam Thornton at the Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality in 2019 (on the system of direct provision) and Gavin Barrett at the House of Lords Select Committee on EU Affairs in 2013, 2014 and 2018 (on justice and home affairs and Brexit-related issues).

Travel and external collaboration are vital to our research mission, and in this context many colleagues have been awarded fellowships to other leading institutions. In 2022, for example, Imelda Maher was

appointed the Emile Noel Global Fellow at New York University conducting research on law and hope, while Mark Coen was a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford exploring the history of trial by jury, and Joe McGrath was a Fulbright Scholar at UC Berkeley, researching privilege and white-collar crime.

ALUMNI

The School takes pride in its many alumni who are scattered across the globe

We seek to recognise their achievements through the university Alumni of the Year Awards, the award of Honorary PhDs and UCD’s highest honour, the Ulysses medal, which has been awarded to Mr Justice Albie Sachs, Susan Haack, Samantha Power and Cass Sunstein. Law alumni who have received honorary PhDs include Noeline Blackwell, Gráinne de Búrca, Conor Gearty, Brian Havel, Mr Justice Gerard Hogan, and Mary Lawlor. UCD has also given Honorary Doctorates of Laws, in recognition of their achievements in or in connection with law, to Judge Yvonne Murphy, Mrs Justice Susan Denham, Máirín de Burca, Kevin Duffy, Michael Farrell, John Feerick, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Emily Logan.

UCD Law Alumnus of the Year winners

2014

Our distinguished alumni include the current Chief Justice, Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell and President of the European Court of Human Rights, Ms Justice Siofra O’Leary, Rossa Fanning SC, Attorney General, Paul Gallagher SC, former Attorney General, Michael O’Flaherty, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, human rights lawyer and Ireland's Special Rapporteur on Child Protection. These alumni are role models for more recent graduates.

Several younger Sutherland alumni are Olympians: Mitch Darling, David Fitzgerald, Kirk Shimmins, (hockey, Rio), Sarah Healy (athletics, Tokyo); Deirdre Duke, Nikki Evans, Anna O’Flanagan, Gillian Pinder (hockey, 2018 World Cup silver medallists; Deirdre and Anna were also Tokyo 2020 Olympians) while Garry Ringrose and Dan Leavy both represented Ireland in rugby. The School takes pride in their achievements and even more so in the fact they combine their intensive sporting careers with their studies.

SUPPORTING OUR STUDENTS

Philanthropy is an intrinsic part of the story of UCD Sutherland School of Law. The School was built on a foundation of public funding and outstanding philanthropic support, with that generosity and vision manifest in the state-of-the-art facilities of the Sutherland Building. A decade since we first opened the doors to Ireland’s first purpose-built law school, philanthropy continues to make a significant contribution to the vibrant intellectual environment of Sutherland School in a host of different ways. We are immensely grateful to all the benefactors who have supported us over the past decade in our commitment to providing an exceptional educational experience at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, increasing diversity and inclusion in law, and shaping the future of law through pioneering research and global engagement. Philanthropically funded scholarships, travel bursaries, mentoring and internship opportunities, and experiential learning, help to ensure that every student, regardless of their background or personal circumstances, can access the resources they need to thrive and flourish at UCD. Likewise, academic chairs and research fellowships enrich our scholarly community and make a meaningful difference for our faculty and postgraduate students.

The School’s flagship student support fund – UCD Sutherland Opportunity supported by Mason Hayes & Curran – has been transformative for our students. Launched in September 2019 in partnership with UCD Access & Lifelong Learning and the law firm Mason Hayes & Curran, and with additional generous support from alumni and other donors, the fund has provided over €1.1 million to a range of initiatives to help students overcome barriers to full participation in higher education. It is a key component to the School’s efforts to ensure that every student has the opportunity to fulfil their potential. Additional scholarships have been established with philanthropic support in partnership with UCD Access & Lifelong Learning such as the AMOSS Scholarship in Law, the Frank Scott Access Scholarship, the Hayes Solicitors Cothrom na Féinne Scholarship in Law and the UCD Walkers (Ireland) Cothrom na Féinne Scholarship. These scholarships have provided key financial supports to students so they can realise their dream of studying law. Also since 2014, UCD law alumni have donated €403,173 to UCD ChampionsOpening Doors, which is the university-wide effort to provide life-changing financial support to low income students.

Shane Black (BCL 2023) was one of the first students to be awarded a Cothrom na Féinne scholarship through UCD Sutherland Opportunity supported by Mason Hayes & Curran. For Shane, the support of a scholarship was life-changing, giving him the motivation and financial stability to achieve his dream of graduating from university:

“It is impossible to summarise what a profound impact this scholarship has had. It has given me all the tools I needed to build a better future, and that is exactly what I did. UCD is built upon curious, intelligent, generous, and hardworking people and those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds are no less hardworking and curious.

I am living proof of the profound impact such support can have on a person’s life.”

Recipients of the Doreen Fitzgerald Caprani Masters Scholarship in Law, the James Healy Masters in Law Scholarship, and the Walsh Family Scholarship have received financial support for graduate studies. In 2024, the School launched the Paul Anthony McDermott Scholarship. The scholarship will enable a UCD law student progress to Kings Inns, and has been made possible thanks to the support of UCD law alumni and Paul Anthony McDermott’s former colleagues at the Law Library.