Blog
Emma Nic Suibhne, a PhD Student in Human Rights (housing) from University of Groningen reflects on her visit to the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights.
Emma Nic Shuibhne, a PhD candidate at the EVICT project at the University of Groningen, reflects on her visit to the Centre of Criminal Justice and Human Rights.
At the beginning of July, I arrived at UCC to begin a two- week research stay as a visiting PhD student at the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights. I was excited for the opportunity to do a research stay at the CCJHR after meeting Dr. Fiona Donson and Dr. Samantha Morgan-Williams at various international conferences. After learning about their research methods and high-quality outputs, I was eager to visit UCC to enrich my own doctoral research.
My PhD project, funded by the European Research Council, focuses on the role that the international right to housing plays in Europe, with a particular focus on Ireland and Spain. My research investigates the different types of impact, or influence, that the international right to housing may have on different groups in society, including the government, legislature, the administration but also minority groups.
My research stay with the CCJHR played a central role in developing an article that I was writing which focuses on the role of the international right to housing in the social housing sector in Ireland. The UCC library and resources were extremely useful as part of my research required the use of administrative law books and databases such as Westlaw. Moreover, I am extremely grateful for the time that Dr. Fiona Donson made to show me around UCC and to discuss different aspects of Irish administrative law.
It was also very enriching to meet with many of the colleagues at the faculty of law at UCC. During these meetings, I was able to exchange ideas and develop the concepts that will form part of other aspects of my PhD thesis. It was invaluable to meet with Seán Ó Conaill to discuss legal research in Gaeilge and to learn about the Law and Irish BCL course at UCC. This was a very helpful meeting as part of my PhD thesis focuses on the role of the international right to housing for protecting linguistic communities, particularly in the Gaeltacht.
Finally, it was great to meet with Dr. Samantha Morgan-Williams and to learn more about the Traveller Equality and Justice Project and their expertise within Traveller accommodation rights. Particularly, the database and resources that have been created as part of this project have been very useful for my research.
I am very grateful to Dr. Fiona Donson and Dr. Samantha Morgan-Williams for welcoming me and for giving me the opportunity to develop my research at the CCJHR, UCC.