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EDITORS’ FOREWORD
EDITORS’ FOREWORD
A century ago the fledgling Irish Free State emerged from the chaos and division of the War of Independence to begin its life as a newly independent state. This emergence was not easy nor without its controversies, as evidenced by the Civil War which shortly followed. The development of a new Irish legal system, as described by our first two articles written by Lisa Owens and Robert Grendon, highlights that since its inception, a consciousness of the legal system as reflective of the State and its new position on the world stage was apparent to all key players. The Ireland of 2022 is a far cry from the Free State’s inception a century ago, with social mores and values changing relatively quickly in such a short amount of time. Yet to move forward and continue to seek justice, an understanding of what has passed and where our legal system came from is key for all students of Irish law. It is our hope that the SLS Journal 2022 will answer this need.
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It would be remiss of us to not reference another key centenary this year; the publication of Ulysses by UCD graduate James Joyce. Although the novel is set in 1904, glimpses of the Irish legal system at the time as analysed by our own late alumnus, Judge Adrian Hardiman, demonstrate Joyce's fascination with the operation of the law in the daily lives of the Irish people. Hardiman’s love for the fusion of law and history were a key inspiration for this volume’s theme and we hoped to emulate his skill in this regard.
Our contributors have worked to look both forward and back in ascertaining the change that has taken place in Ireland in the past century, to reflect on the successes and failures of how our legal system has developed and responded to a changing world. In ‘Living and Working in Ireland’ our contributors have tackled the key issues affecting the day to day lives of all Irish citizens over the past century including children, women, married couples, migrants and asylum seekers and businesses. In ‘Ireland and the United Kingdom’ our contributors have analysed the development of a special relationship between Ireland and the UK over the past century, giving special attention to the role and significance of Northern Ireland. Concluding this year’s Journal, contributors in ‘Ireland, the European Union and The Word’ paid tribute to Ireland’s growing presence on the international stage, making insightful analysis on areas such the right to housing, criminal law, religious freedoms and Ireland’s role in international institutions such as the United Nations Security Council.
We would like to express our gratitude to a number of people whose work and support throughout this project is greatly appreciated. We would like to sincerely thank The Hon. Mr. Justice Donal O’Donnell for writing such a fitting and inspired foreword. We are immensely thankful to The Irish Independent and The Sunday Independent for kindly sponsoring this year’s publication. Everyone involved in The Student Legal Journal, as a voluntary, student-led initiative, really appreciates our sponsors’ generosity in helping this project come to fruition. This year’s edition of the journal would not have been possible without the dedication of the entire Student Legal Service Committee. We extend a special word of thanks to this year’s auditor Hugh Kilgannon and treasurer Emily McCarthy for their constant support and to Aimee Moore for her work in promoting the journal. The UCD Sutherland School of Law and its expert faculty has inspired each contributor to go beyond what has been learned in the classroom. We thank the School of Law for encouraging students to engage with the law outside the formal academic setting in seeking out new ideas, challenging existing viewpoints and proposing solutions to a wide range of issues. We especially thank the Dean, Dr. Niamh Howlin for her kind assistance throughout the project.
Finally, we offer our congratulations to the dedicated team of contributors and subeditors on completing this year-long project. From the outset it was important to us to create a welcoming space in which contributors from all stages of their studies felt safe to make mistakes, to voice their opinions and to learn from one another. Through our drop-in sessions with contributors, we felt privileged to see their ideas grow from small sparks of interest to deeply thought-out, well-reasoned arguments. To see our contributors' final articles in print today has been a source of pride for us both and we would like to thank all our contributors and their sub-editors for their tireless work. We may have been the curators but you were the artists and we hope you are as proud as we are of your achievement.
