Dr Maebh Harding

Dr Maebh Harding of University College Dublin (UCD) is leading the Doing Feminist Legal Work (DFLW) project, which will bring together legal scholars across Ireland, Northern Ireland and Britain.

It is one of eight projects awarded a total of €150,000 under the Shared Island strand of the Irish Research Council’s New Foundations programme.

The projects bring researchers north and south together to examine political, economic, civic and social cooperation and connection on the island of Ireland, and are funded by the Shared Island unit in the Department of the Taoiseach.

DFLW will “generate a sustainable network that will develop and share experience and practice as well as developing substantive research and educational tools necessary to respond swiftly and effectively to societal challenges, to engage directly with policy makers and media, and with the resilience necessary to rapidly address complex issues of law and gender in both the immediate and long term”.

Last year, 11 projects were funded under the first call of the Shared Island New Foundations awards, and these reports are now being finalised and published.

These include the North-South Legal Mapping Project (NSLMP) led by Professor Oran Doyle of Trinity College Dublin, which brought together legal experts from north and south to benchmark and assess divergence and convergence across legal systems, legal knowledge and legal networks across the two jurisdictions.

The NSLMP published a report in October 2022, identifying high-level trends of legal convergence and divergence. Since its launch, the report has been discussed at the Irish Association of Law Teachers conference in Belfast and is also due to be discussed at a conference hosted by the Bar Council of Ireland.

Eight detailed papers are also expected to be published as part of the continuation of the NSLMP in 2023.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “I am pleased to announce eight new projects funded by the government’s Shared Island initiative and the Irish Research Council. This is part of a wide-ranging research programme under Shared Island, which looks to the future of this island in an inclusive, practical way, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement.

“These research projects will help light the way on how we deepen beneficial cooperation and connections between people and communities in culture, science, education, law and on equality concerns. I look forward to the evidence and insights that these research projects will bring forward as they are completed next year.”

Simon Harris, the minister for further and higher education, research, innovation and science, said: “Research can play a significant role in building links between communities by finding solutions to common problems.

“The Irish Research Council’s New Foundations Programme will tap into the expertise and talent in the research systems of this island – north and south – for the benefit of Shared Island goals.

“The funded projects will see researchers examine issues including the circular economy, cancer treatment, and post-pandemic recovery in the performing arts industry. My Department is proud to support this initiative.”

Dr Louise Callinan, director of the Irish Research Council, added: “The Irish Research Council is delighted to partner for the second time with the Shared Island unit of the Department of the Taoiseach.

“The North South Legal Mapping Project led by Professor Oran Doyle, previously funded through this scheme, is one such project which highlights how the Department of the Taoiseach’s Shared Island New Foundations Awards are already contributing to the Shared Island Initiative.”