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A Year in Review 2022: Research Highlights

20 Dec 2022

As we bid farewell to another year, we reflect on some of 2022’s highlights at the UCC School of Law.

Now is the turn of key Research Highlights. 

 

The School of Law's experienced faculty members undertake cutting-edge research, producing highly regarded legal scholarship both independently and through our research centres. This year, as ever, saw numerous successful funding bids for innovative research across a range of legal areas.

School of Law Secures Two IRC Laureate Grants Totalling €1.2 million

Huge congratulations to two members of staff at the UCC School of Law, Professor Maria Cahill and Dr. Patrick O’Callaghan, upon having secured prestigious Irish Research Council Laureate Consolidator grants of €600,000 each to support research projects during the period 1st September 2022 until 31st August 2026. Professor Cahill’s project, “Exploring the Potential of Freedom of Association” (SOCIETAS), focuses on the often-overlooked right to freedom of association. The project will begin with a comparative study of the ways in which this right is interpreted in laws and courts around the world, and then seek to illuminate its deep purposes by drawing on insights from theories of selfhood and theories of collective intentionality. Dr O’Callaghan will lead a project entitled “Law and the Inner Self” (LAWINSEL). The project seeks to better understand the evolution and nature of the idea of the “inner self” by viewing it through the prism of legal change from the Middle Ages through to the digital transformations of the 21st century.

Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence ‘EU Integration and Citizens’ Rights’

We were delighted to launch the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence ‘EU Integration & Citizens’ Rights’ (EUICR) this September.  EUICR explores how citizens’ effective activation of rights within the EU, its neighbourhood and through its global partnerships can ensure the EU’s future legitimacy. The three-year project, led by Professor Dagmar Schiek and aligned to the Centre for European Integration (CEI@UCC) is a cross-departmental project, comprising staff from the School of Law, Department of Government and Politics, Department of Economics and the Glucksman Gallery. The list of the centre’s upcoming events can be found here.

New Foundations Awards from Irish Research Council

In January 2022 it was announced that Professor Louise Crowley, Dr Claire Murray and Dr Darius Whelan have each received a New Foundations award in recognition of their research projects which will have a ‘tangible impact on societal issues’.

Professor Louise Crowley has been awarded for her project, “Bystander Intervention at second level – educating and empowering our young people to speak up and demand a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of sexual harassment and violence”. This strand of the successful Bystander Intervention programme will be delivered in partnership with 10 secondary schools in Cork, with Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh in Bishopstown, Cork the named partner. 

Dr Claire Murray has been awarded for her project, “Conscientious Provision of Abortion Care in Ireland: The Role of Law”, in partnership with the Irish Family Planning Association.

Dr Darius Whelan has been awarded for his project, “Improving Human Rights for People with Mental Health Difficulties: A User-Friendly Toolkit”. The Toolkit, which was launched in November, has been developed in partnership with Mental Health Reform.

Books and Reports

Dr Luigi Lonardo announced the publication of his first book this month. 'EU Common Foreign and Security Policy After Lisbon -Between Law and Geopolitics’ provides an evaluation of the role that geopolitics plays in shaping the genesis and functioning of the law of EU Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). More details can be found here

In October, Professor Mary Donnelly celebrated the launch of her book ‘Supporting Legal Capacity in Socio-Legal Context’.  The book was jointly edited by Professor Donnelly with Professor Rosie Harding, University of Birmingham and Dr Ezgi Taşcıoğlu, Keele University is published by Hart Publishing and has contributions from authors from Canada, Finland, India, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the UK. Click here for full details.

In September, the report ‘Ensuring the collaborative reform of youth justice in Ireland in line with international research and evidence-based approaches’, commissioned by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) and funded by the Irish Research Council, was launched. Led by Principal Investigator Professor Ursula Kilkelly of the School of Law, the research is an inter-disciplinary study of the leading evidence of children’s pathways in and out of offending. Read the report in full here.

In August, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published research conducted by Dr Dug Cubie, School of Law with Dr Martin Le Tissier and Peter Medway entitled “Enhancing Integration of Disaster Risk and Climate Change Adaptation into Irish Emergency Planning”. This research project was a collaboration between the UCC MaREI Centre and the School of Law and the final report examines how best to develop an integrated and holistic approach to both long-term climate change adaptation needs and the more immediate emergency risk management needs. The report and explanatory video presented by Dr Cubie can be accessed here.

Professor Ursula Kilkelly celebrated the launch of her book ‘Advancing Children’s Rights in Detention’ with Mr Pat Bergin in June.  The book documents the process of change in Oberstown Children Detention Campus to implement a rights-based model of detention for children and highlights what can be learned from Ireland’s experience.  Read more about the book here and listen to the Professor Kilkelly and Mr Bergin discuss the book further in the UCC School of Law Podcast.

In January, the third edition of UCC School of Law Senior Lecturer Dr Fidelma White’s seminal text on commercial law in Ireland, the EU and other important common law jurisdictions was published by Round Hall Press. More information on the book can be found here

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