Professor Michael Doherty, Head of Maynooth University Department of Law, recently attended the inaugural meeting of the Education & Skills Liaison Group, which was held at the Department of Education & Skills on 30 September 2015.
The meeting was addressed by Minister Simon Harris, who established the group under IFS2020, the new Government strategy for International Financial Services. The group will aim to provide companies and industry bodies in the financial services sector with an opportunity to engage with the relevant Government departments and agencies in relation to the education and skills agenda.
Also in attendance was Liz Grace, who is a partner in the Asset Management and Investment Funds Group of leading Irish law firm Matheson. In addition to working for Matheson, Liz helped to create and deliver, in conjunction with the Department of Law, the first-ever specialised Funds Law course available at an Irish university. The Funds Law course is offered to students on the LLM (Global Legal Studies) and the LLM (International Business Law) masters and is designed to educate graduates for accelerated entry into Ireland's growing International Financial Services Sector.
Earlier in the year, Professor Doherty, Liz, and Michael Jackson met with Minister Harris to discuss this unique third-level module. A particularly innovative aspect of the module is the fact that the top-performing students are given the opportunity to undertake work placements at Matheson. This has proven to be a fantastic opportunity for our students and has lead to training contracts with the firm.
Professor Doherty is Head of Maynooth University Department of Law where he lectures in modules on Employment Law and in Work and Employment in Europe on the LLB programme.