Department of Law PhD Student named a recipient of this year's International Communities Organisation Research Fellowship

Friday, September 27, 2019 - 15:30

Mr. Gerard Maguire, PhD Student with the Department of Law, under the supervision of Dr. Noelle Higgins, has been named a recipient of this year's International Communities Organisation Research Fellowship.

The ICO combines human rights principles with developmental strategies for the empowerment of communities and pave the way for self-determination. They advocate social change for education, health, and culture to enhance the quality of life in communities, regions and cities. Recipients of the fellowship are described as having a strong profile on the human rights aspects of a particular thematic issue, and produce documents that are carefully researched, compellingly written, aimed at achieving specific impact in the field of human rights research, especially concerning the right to self-determination. With focus in particular on issues recurring in different situations, such as: division of governance competencies, fiscal organisation, rights of minorities and cross-border integration. All research fellows have a strong track record of high-quality independent research.

As part of this fellowship, Gerard will be writing a book (which will be published and funded through the ICO) outlining best practices from past peace negotiations involving self-determination claims which will be designed to assist mediators, officials from international organisations, state officials and self-determination movements with specific focus on indigenous peoples. Gerard's attention was brought to the ICO through his research into the relationship between Genocide, Identity, Education and Statehood within the context of Indigenous Peoples in international law.