Local TY students urged to enter Gráinne O'Neill memorial legal essay contest

The Law Society of Ireland is inviting Transition Year (TY) students from the Midlands to enter the national Gráinne O’Neill Memorial Legal Essay Competition.

To enter, students are asked to submit a 1,500-word essay examining the topic, 'Protecting Voices, Preventing Harm: Legal Challenges in Online Freedom of Speech' by Friday, November 21.

Now in its fourth year, the competition aims to inspire young people's legal learning by encouraging students from a wide range of backgrounds to consider contemporary justice issues.

Last year, 350 students from 52 schools across 16 counties entered the annual national contest. The overall winner was Kerry transition year student Hazel Barrett, with Angelina Sewell of Sacred Heart School, Tullamore, one of six entrants to receive merit awards for their essays.

Entries from other Midlands schools such as Our Lady's Bower and the Marist College in Athlone, and Tullamore College and Killina Presentation School in Offaly, have also been among the honours in the competition in previous years.

The essay competition is organised in honour of the late Gráinne O’Neill, a hugely-popular Athlone native and district court judge who died in 2018. Gráinne had become the youngest judge in Ireland when she was appointed to the district court in 2014.

President of the Law Society, Eamon Harrington, said, "The Gráinne O’Neill Memorial Legal Essay Competition is just one of the Law Society’s many school outreach programmes aimed at expanding access to the law and legal education for young people.

"The legal profession is evolving, and we are committed to supporting this change and widening access to legal careers for the next generation of solicitors.

"With this timely essay topic, we encourage students to explore the law and their legal rights and responsibilities while considering freedom of speech.

"Each essay is personal, and this is what makes this competition so unique. We hope this topic will ignite curiosity and will give students a better understanding of the law and how it impacts them and society."

Last year's winner, Hazel Barrett, said: "The competition gave me a chance to learn more about the law and learn how the legal system can be used to protect people and uphold equal rights".

Applications will close on November 21, and further information is available on the Law Society website: www.lawsociety.ie/public/Public-Legal-Education/grainne-oneill-legal-essay-competition