News archive New Head of Law School Appointed

Professor Donncha O’Connell took up office today as Head of the School of Law at NUI Galway having recently been appointed to an Established Chair in Law. He served a term as Dean of Law from 2005-2008 after which he spent a year as a Visiting Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE).

He is also a part-time Commissioner of the Law Reform Commission, a member of the Legal Aid Board and editor of the Irish Human Rights Law Review. P...rofessor O’Connell teaches Constitutional Law and European Human Rights to undergraduate students. He also teaches two postgraduate courses: Advocacy, Activism & Public Interest Law and Processes of Law Reform. He has extensive experience in human rights activism having served in the past as the first full-time Director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and as a board member of Amnesty International – Ireland, the Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC), the Public Interest Law Alliance (PILA) and INTERIGHTS. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Druid Theatre Company and a trustee of Counterpoint Arts. Originally from Swinford, Co. Mayo, Professor O’Connell was educated at NUIG (UCG), The Honorable Society of the King’s Inns and Edinburgh University.