“None of this is happening. We think we’re here but we aren’t.” I am in Tigh Neachtain in Galway with Speaking of I.M.E.L.D.A.on the 10th of April. We are having an abortion referendum in Ireland on May 25, to repeal the anti-abortion Amendment they put into the...
This International Women’s Day sees women worldwide engaged in strike action. Irish women strike for repeal of the 8th Amendment: the constitutional provision which prohibits abortion except where the pregnant woman’s life is at risk, and the only means of avoiding...
In the past year or so, Irish pro-choice protesting has taken on a new vitality. Some pro-choice actors have adopted the language of satire, humour, scandal and disobedience to show up the limits of the abortion regime. I have written before about the abortion pill...
On Saturday, we heard of the Irish state's latest efforts to police its abortion law. The story has emerged from a series of High Court hearings. Reporting on the case is restricted by court order, and so facts have emerged drip by drip. On Tuesday, we heard a...
December 1st saw the launch of "Defend the Irish University"; a charter which underscores common experiences of university privatisation in Ireland and the UK, and suggests possibilities for resistance. It is important to take note of what is happening to students and...
When we started ‘The Public Life of Private Law’ one of the conversations we wanted to have with participants, and with others following the series, was about teaching private law from a critical perspective. In particular, we wanted to think about how those of us who...
By the end of Friday, we will be half-way through our ESRC seminar series 'The Public Life of Private Law'. The programme for our second seminar is here. The focus of the second seminar will be on the uses of private law in seeking reparations for 'human rights...
This morning (14 November 2012) the Guardian reports on the case of Savita Halappanavar, who died last month at University College Galway, Ireland. It was, we are told, a case of "sudden maternal death". The Irish Times sets out the facts of the case as follows:...
Six bursaries are available to assist PhD students and recent PhD graduates in any discipline to attend all four seminars in the UK's ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) seminar series The Public Life of Private Law, which will run 2013 – 2014. The first...
On March 10 and 11, the Kent Critical Law Society will host its first annual conference, 'Equality - Are We There Yet?' at Keynes College, at the University of Kent at Canterbury. The conference is student-led and will attract practitioners, law students, academics...
This one-day workshop will examine the deployment of private law by university management against students in the context of recent protests against the marketisation of learning and teaching. The workshop will draw on the experiences of occupiers and their lawyers in...
Give me your name and address and I’ll rape you. [All laugh] --- Unidentified Garda Sergeant Shell to Sea is an organisation operating in the west of Ireland which was formed to take direct action in protest against the Corrib Gas Project. It is widely known and...
I have been wondering about teaching one of the secret lives of private law; the use of the law of tort, contract and equity to regulate on-campus student protest. There is a growing online archive - of blogs, media reports and university press releases - which...