Trinity FLAC: A Year in Review

Trinity FLAC: A Year in Review

By Georgia Dillon, Secretary of Trinity FLAC, JS Law

Trinity FLAC is the Trinity College Dublin branch of the Free Legal Advice Centre. The society seeks to advance and promote the principles of social justice and human rights on and off campus through offering free legal advice and raising awareness of social justice issues in our local and global communities. At the heart of FLAC lies the belief that every human being deserves dignity and respect.

We started this year with a change to our Constitution to allow for the recruitment of two Deputy Legal Research Officers, Patricia and Rebecca, who joined our Legal Research Officer Hugh to produce two research projects this year. The first, Disability Rights: A Research Report By Trinity FLAC, was shortlisted for best publication at this year’s CSC Awards. The second research project, Gendered Issues in Irish Law and Policy, is well underway and explores a number of pressing issues, from feminist approaches to legal decision-making, to period poverty, to parental and reproductive health leave.

Our Free Legal Advice Clinics continued over the phone this year. They took place every Tuesday of the academic year and allowed staff and students to avail of free legal advice from a qualified legal practitioner from A&L Goodbody. These clinics are at the heart of what we do at Trinity FLAC, promoting access to justice for all, and were run by our Clinics Officer Isobel, who returned this year for her second stint in this position. Isobel handled the transition from in-person clinics to phone clinics wonderfully and enabled dozens of people to receive free legal advice.

We hosted a number of panel discussions this year, both online and in person. We were delighted to continue our YouTube Speaker Series following the return to in-person events, as we received feedback that they have been helpful for students working on research and assignments. We continued to platform a number of advocates and experts speaking on issues of social justice, including Chairperson of Safeguarding Ireland Patricia Rickard Clarke, Professor Patricia Brazil and Finn Keyes, who kindly gave their time to speak to us about wardship in Ireland and the need for reform in this system. Our Speaker Series continued with a Civil Legal Aid Review with Christopher McCann and Professor Gerard Whyte, and a discussion on prisoners’ rights with Ciara Kirrane and Mary Rogan. We also hosted a number of live online events, including our annual ‘Alternative Careers in Law’ Event. At this talk, we heard from a number of speakers who pursued careers outside the traditional corporate law route, from academics to CEOs of NGOs. We offered a number of workshops including a tenants’ rights workshop with the Trinity College Dublin Student Union and a Consent Workshop with Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.

This year marked the return of our in-person events, including our annual Advocacy Award. This award acknowledges people that FLAC believes has made a significant contribution to the advancement of social justice in Ireland. This year we were honoured to give the award to Independent Trinity Senator Lynn Ruane, who has used her position in the Seanad to advocate for reform in Irish drug policy and the criminal justice system. In conversation with our chairperson Síofra, Senator Ruane shared insights into her time in the Seanad and the adversity she has overcome in her political career.

FLAC took part in a number of collaborations with other societies this year. We hosted a talk on the intersection of the ‘Environment, Economics and Law’ with Trinity Law Society, Environmental Society, Student Economic Review and the Students’ Union. We also organised a number of social and fundraising collaborations, including our Freshers’ Week Cable Tie Scavenger Hunt with the Trinity Law Society and The Chase: Law Hacks Edition, where representatives from the Law Society, Trinity College Law Review and The Eagle faced off against law students in a game hosted by our lovely Hilary Term Moot Officer, Jules. This event

raised money for Peter McVerry, a charity FLAC has been honoured to fundraise for over the past number of years. We also hosted a Christmas Pub Quiz with the Trinity Voluntary Tuition Programme to get us all into the festive spirit. After over a year of hosting online events, it was so wonderful to be able to meet and collaborate with student societies across a number of different disciplines.

We continued to hold our annual moot court competitions. The Conor Ringland Memorial Moot took place online during the first semester, with a number of our Junior and Senior Freshman members battling it out to win first prize. Our Karen Kenny Memorial Moot is currently underway, with a number of Sophister teams competing to win an opportunity to intern with the Community Law and Mediation Centre. It has been so wonderful to watch our members showcase their oral advocacy skills over this past year.

All in all, this has been a big year for Trinity FLAC as we have adapted to the new normal of online, in-person, and hybrid events. We are so grateful to all of our members for participating in our research projects, moot court competitions and attending our panel discussions and social events. We are also so appreciative of all of our committee members who have worked tirelessly to bring our events to you this year!