Mayo man Donncha O’Connell is the newly-appointed head of the School of Law at NUI Galway.
Professor O’Connell (45 ) who grew up in Swinford, is also a part-time commissioner of the Law Reform Commission, the statutory body charged with advising the Government on law reform proposals, and a member of the Legal Aid Board.
Welcoming the news, President of NUI Galway Dr Jim Browne said Donncha O’Connell had a tremendous record of achievement as an academic, teacher and public intellectual.
Professor O’Connell, a former lecturer at the School of Law, NUI Galway, took unpaid leave of absence in 1999 when he was appointed as the first full-time director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, an NGO founded in 1976 by Kader Asmal and Mary Robinson. He returned to NUI Galway in 2002 and was elected Dean of Law at NUI Galway before working as the senior Irish expert on the international legal group that advises the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights based in Vienna.
He edits the Irish Human Rights Law Review, published biennially by Clarus Press, and since 2006 he has played an active part on the board of directors of Galway-based Druid Theatre Company. He is also a trustee of Counterpoint Arts based in Dublin and London.
