From June, 22 until June, 29 the Department of Law, in cooperation with the Maynooth Centre for European and Eurasian Studies, hosted the third and final international Jean Monnet Summer School “The EU and Human Rights in a Time of Crisis”, part of the Jean Monnet Module (a three-year project started in 2017) financed under the Erasmus+ programme. This year the Summer School focused on “Vulnerability and Human Rights in the European Union”. The Summer School was coordinated by Dr. Delia Ferri, in conjunction with Prof. John O’Brennan.
The Summer School explored from various angles EU measures aimed to combat discrimination, prejudice and stigmatisation, as well as social disadvantage and material deprivation experienced by vulnerable groups. Building on the current academic debate on the concept of vulnerability itself, the lectures reflected on how the EU can best act to remove structures that sustain or create vulnerability, allowing everybody to enjoy all their human rights to the full. It was opened by a keynote speech of Prof. Niamh Nic Shuibhne (University of Edinburgh) and concluded, on June 29, by a lectio magistralis of Prof. Michael O’Flaherty, Director of the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union and Adjunct Professor at Maynooth University.
The Summer School offered an extremely rich programme of guest lectures and seminars. Guest lecturers and speakers included: Mr Justice John MacMenamin (Supreme Court of Ireland), Prof. Com O’Cinneide (UCL), Dr. Andrea Broderick (Maastricht University), Dr. Liam Thornton (UCD), Dr. Charles O’Sullivan (DCU), Prof. Kristin Henrard (Rotterdam University), as well as Prof. Tobias Lock, Ms. Aideen Elliott, Dr. Cliodhna Murphy, Dr. Noelle Higgins, Dr. Fergus Ryan (Maynooth University). The Summer School was characterized by a combination of different teaching strategies and activities and students had the opportunity to talk to practitioners from different fields, including Angel Bello Cortes (Fragomen), Aoife MacMahon (Barrister – Law Library), Maeve O’Rourke (NUI Galway), John Horan (Cloisters and Chambers). Moreover, students had the opportunity to watch the documentary on migration “Violent Borders: an investigative documentary on the Balkan Route”, followed by a discussion with the director Mr. Michele Aiello (Zalab) and Ms. Zoryana Pshyk, an ex-asylum seeker.
The full list of speakers is available at: https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/international/short-term-programmes/eu-law-summer-school/jean-monnet-summer-school
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