New Appointments at UL School of Law

Dr. Lydia Bracken has been appointed as a lecturer in law in UL. She is a graduate of University College Cork (BCL, 2010; LLM, 2011; PhD, 2015) and the Honorable Society of King’s Inns (BL, 2012). Her PhD thesis, which was funded by a Department of Children and Youth Affairs Research Scholarship, examined the implications of the best interests of the child principle in the context of same-sex parenting in Ireland.

Dr Bracken’s research interests lie in the areas of child and family law and European human rights and she has published nationally and internationally in these areas. In particular, her research examines the legal recognition of ‘non-traditional’ families and it explores how such recognition can be provided in a manner that respects the rights and interests of children. Before joining the School of Law, Dr Bracken acted as principal researcher for the Law Reform Commission’sproject on Contempt of Court and Other Offences and Torts involving the Administration of Justice.

Dr Stephen Brittain has been appointed as a Teaching Assistant in law at UL. He is a first class honours graduate of Trinity College Dublin(LL.B, 2010, PhD, 2015). After completing his undergraduate studies he undertook a doctorate in Trinity under the supervision of Professor Catherine Donnelly, which was entitled The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: an Originalist Analysis, and for which he was awarded an IRC Government of Ireland Scholarship. Dr Brittain taught in Trinity College Dublin before joining the School of Law in the University of Limerick.

Between 2013 and 2016 Stephen was Judicial Assistant to Mr. Justice David Keane of the High Court of Ireland, where he worked primarily in the areas of family law, chancery, company law, and commercial law. He also provided research support to the editors of De Smith’s Judicial Review (7th edition, Sweet & Maxwell, 2013). Dr Brittain’s primary research interests lie in EU law, constitutional law, human rights law, administrative law, and comparative law, and he has published nationally and internationally in these areas.

Dr Catriona Moloney, has been appointed a Teaching Assistant post in law at UL. She lectured at the National University of Ireland Galway. Dr Moloney has an LLM in Public Law and was awarded her PhD entitled, Empowering Children and Young People: An Access to Justice Assessment of Mental Health Law and Policy.

She was awarded a School of Law Scholarship to undertake this research. Dr Moloney was a full-time legal researcher for the Law Reform Commission from 2008-2010. She worked on the Commission’s Statue Law Restatement programme. She was a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School’s Project on Disability during the summer of 2013. Her research interests are primarily in the field of public law and policy, in particular issues related to the admission and treatment of children under mental health law. Her research explores the emerging area of access to justice and its application to children through the development of child-friendly justice frameworks. Dr Moloney has published and presented papers in this field. She was appointed to the Board of EPIC (Empowering Young People in Care) in 2014. EPIC advocates at national and local level for the rights of young people in and with care experience.