UCC welcomes EU Commissioner Michael McGrath
On September 5th, Michael McGrath, EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection and his EU team visited Cork on a team building visit.
As part of this visit, the Commissioner and his team toured the UCC campus and met with UCC academics from The School of Law and the Department of Government and Politics.
UCC alumnus and Cork native, Michael McGrath, European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, and his Brussels based Cabinet met with UCC President, Professor John O'Halloran, and had a guided tour of the UCC campus by JP Quinn, Head of Visitor Services.
The Commissioner has been specifically tasked with coming forward with a European Democracy Shield later this year – which aims to strengthen electoral integrity and processes, strengthen citizen engagement and participation in democratic processes, tackle disinformation and FIMI, and improve critical thinking and media literacy.
The delegation met with UCC academics working on governance, justice and consumer policy to discuss Ireland's role in EU policymaking and to deepen a shared understanding of the responsibility of safeguarding and strengthening democracies.
Dr Liam Weeks, Head of Department of Government and Politics spoke about the challenges facing democracy both at home and abroad, especially in relation to the threats to the electoral process. He spoke of the ongoing research projects within the Department on electoral integrity, gender inequality, the European Union, and political campaigning.
Dr Luigi Lonardo, Lecturer in European Union Law and Acting Director, Centre for European Integration discussed the ongoing research on disinformation at UCC, in connection with EU law and with the protection of democracy in Europe, noting the synergies with recent and upcoming initiatives of the Commissioner.
Professor Nessa Lynch, Matheson Lectureship in Law, Innovation and Technology Lynch gave an overview of her research and professional experience in the area of fundamental rights and emerging technologies in criminal justice systems, noting the centrality of the digitisation of justice to the EU agenda in the coming years. She reported initial findings from her involvement in a EU-funded project on the procedural rights of children in this context.
Professor Noreen O’Meara, Synnott Family Chair in European Union Law presented an overview of her professional experience in academia and the EU institutions, highlighting research on judiciaries and judicial independence, challenges of addressing online disinformation, and on human rights and environmental law in the EU. Noreen welcomed further engagement with the School of Law and the Centre for European Integration, particularly during Ireland’s forthcoming EU Presidency in 2026.