Women in Law Month
Maynooth University Department of Law
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Session 4
Wednesday the 28th of April 2021 – Chair Dr Amina Adanan
- 5:00pm Móirín Moynihan, Department of Children and Youth Affairs
- 5:30pm Dr Camino Kavanagh, United Nations Cyber/IT
- 6:00pm Paula Jennings, Solicitor at Law (retired), Malawi Human Rights Charity Founder
Places are limited so registration is advised.
To register click here***
***Please use your MUMAIL email address when registering
About the Speakers
Móirín Moynihan, Department of Children and Youth Affairs
Móirín Moynihan BEd,MSc, qualified as solicitor in 1993 after a period teaching.
She has over 25 years’ experience as a criminal law practitioner with specialist interest in juvenile justice, human rights and childcare law. She has worked in criminal defence and prosecution and currently is working in the area of child welfare and protection policy development.
Dr Camino Kavanagh, United Nations Cyber/IT
Dr Camino Kavanagh is a visiting Senior Fellow with the Dept. of War Studies, where she obtained her PhD in 2015 under the supervision of Prof David Betz and Thomas Rid. Her thesis examined the historic relation between the state and information technology. Her current research focuses on international politics, conflict and technology.
Camino is currently a member of the UN advisory support team to the Chairs of two UN negotiating processes relating to cyber/ICT and international security (the UN Open Ended Working Group and the UN Group of Governmental Experts). In 2016-2017 she served as rapporteur/consultant to the UN Group of Governmental Experts on the same subject. Over the past decade she has advised and consulted with international and regional organisations such as the UN, OSCE, OAS, as well as national government departments and agencies on issues relevant to digital technologies and national/international security and diplomacy matters.
Prior to this, Dr. Kavanagh spent over a decade working in conflict and post-conflict contexts, including with UN peacekeeping operations and political missions in Africa and Central America; as post-conflict reform and policy advisor to governments and organizations in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia; and has managed different policy and research initiatives relating to organized crime and terrorism.
Paula Jennings, Solicitor at Law (retired), Malawi Human Rights Charity Founder
Paula Jennings commenced her career with a degree in French and English and that resulted in her teaching French for some years to Leaving Cert students. She then set up a small manufacturing firm with a friend/business partner before reverting to using her French language skills by qualifying and working as a Bord Failte Tour Guide for French Visitors.
At age 40 Paula decided to commence a career in law and started her law studies at DIT (now TU) thereafter spending the summer studying for the Law Society FE1 exams.
She then commenced her apprenticeship and later proudly qualified as a solicitor. Paula’s interest in law commenced following the tragic loss of a family member, criminality was suspected. Studying law assisted with distracting her during that difficult time and with generating a greater understanding of justice. She commenced her legal career in a one-man practice covering conveyancing, probate, and personal injuries, she did not work in the area of criminal law at this time. After a number years she moved to National Irish Bank and worked there for over three years. Paula then went to work for the Criminal Law Office of Emer O'Sullivan & Co where she worked for the next ten years. Her career in law was vibrant, immensely interesting and challenging. It led to a growth in self-confidence and a bringing out of talents she suspected she had but had not been given the space to develop previously. For example, she became a trustee of a charity CaraMalawi (at that time the fourth poorest country in the world) and while in Malawi became interested in the conditions experienced by psychiatric patients and prisoners. From there grew a charity that she founded and that the Law Society Bar Council Rule of Law International took over subsequently.