University of Ulster PhD student, Orla Drummond, has been awarded a highly prestigious Modern Law Review (MLR) Scholarship – the first time the award has been bestowed on an Ulster student.

The highly-competitive scholarship provides a bursary of £5,000 per annum and an invitation to the Modern Law Review Chorley Lecture and Modern Law Review dinner held at the London School of Economics, whereOrla will be an ambassador forLaw and Society research at Ulster.

With a roll call of previous awards going mainly to Oxbridge and LSE candidates, Orla’s achievement is testament to the quality of research and supervision at Ulster’s School of Law

“It is a great honour to be awarded the MLR Scholarship and I was surprised and delighted to hear that I had been successful,” said Orla, who comes from Derry~Londonderry and is based at the Magee campus.

“My PhD isentitled ‘Inclusive Justice? A Comparative Examination of the Participatory Nature of Special Educational Needs Tribunals in Northern Ireland and Wales’.

“The research examines children's right to participate in legal process, as guaranteedby Article 12(2) of the UnitedNations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“I’m extremely grateful for the support and encouragement I have received from my from my husband and family and also my supervisors, Grainne McKeever, Reader in Law and Dr Eugene McNamee, Head of the School of Law.”

Speaking about the award, Dr McNamee said: “ We are delighted that the quality of Orla’s work has been recognised in this way and that she now has a major achievement to add to her CV.

“As supervisors, we are delighted that Orla’s PhD research has received this extremely prestigious award in recognition of the strength and value of her contribution.

“Orla’s work has generated an original perspective on a long standing problem of access to justice for children with special educational needs, and will prove to be an invaluable contribution to current political developments in education and tribunal reform.”

Ms McKeever, who is also the research coordinator for Law and Society Research, added: “Orla’s PhD builds on high quality, innovative research in Law and Society within the School of Law at Ulster and the MLR Scholarship is testament to the quality and importance of this work.

“The need for law to address a range of problems that are current within our society is part of the remit of law and society research and Orla’s PhD is indicative of this focus on the day to day issues of legal reform – administrative justice, child protection, schooling and education – which provides an opportunity to influence policy makers and to shape legal developments.

“Orla’s research will enable us to further progress these opportunities.”

Notes for Editors:

Modern Law Review Scholarships

Since 2003, The Modern Law Review has made available an annual amount in financial support for research students engaged on doctoral research at a university in the United Kingdom on any subject broadly within the publishing interests of the Review.

These scholarships are awarded by annual competition based on nominations submitted by the head of department of the university in which the applicant is, or will be, registered as a research student.

About The Ulster Law School

Ulster Law School’s teaching mission is to foster intellectual growth, critically informed social engagement, and excellence in practical academic and legal skills.

To this end we offer a broad range of taught undergraduate and postgraduate law degrees on two campuses, with close attention to student support and career development mentoring.

As measured by the National Student Survey, we have an overall student satisfaction rating of over 90%. We are ranked within the top 15 Law Schools in the UK for research quality, are home to the globally renowned Transitional Justice Institute, and integrate our research activity to our undergraduate and postgraduate curricula.

We also offer specialist supervision for funded PhD research, and diverse opportunities for study abroad and legal internships.

We provide public-facing, student-led legal support through our unique Ulster Law Clinic.

We maintain close working relations with our sister school, the Ulster University Graduate School for Professional Legal Education, through which many of our graduates qualify as solicitors.

We place great emphasis on our alumni relations, and the network of connections that this brings to each new group of graduates.

In short, we offer a great educational environment that will equip and support our students to move forward after their time spent with us.