This summer, Maynooth University Department of Law ran a Summer Programme for Undergraduate Researchers (SPUR). Under the programme, two of our current students, Paul Brady (LLB 2016) and Matt Connolly (LLB 2017), were afforded the opportunity of working directly with academic staff of the Department, undertaking substantive academic research.
Meet our SPUR Researchers!
Matt Connolly
Matt is an undergraduate Law student at Maynooth University. He will be commencing 3rd year of the university’s LLB programme in September. After two years in Maynooth, Matt’s interest in Law is currently leaning towards the commercial aspect. Matt is a former president of Maynooth Law Society and is also currently a board member of, and researcher for, MAG Ireland (the Irish Motorcyclists Association), which is in turn a member of FEMA (the Federation of European Motorcycle Associations).
Matt’s research on the SPUR Programme, under the guidance of Dr Sibo Banda, focussed on the International Law of Foreign Investment. Areas of particular focus were the Nature and Significance of International Investment and Investors, National Legal Frameworks, Contractual Framework for International Investment, Treaty Structure, and General Standards of Treatments of Foreign Investments.
The SPUR Programme was a fantastic opportunity for me. Prior to commencing, I thought International Investment Law would be an area which would interest me, the Programme helped confirm that.
Paul Brady
Paul is entering his final year as a Bachelor of Laws student in Maynooth University; he has been involved in many extracurricular activities and societies during his time at Maynooth and is currently the acting Editor-in-Chief of the Irish Law Journal. Over the course of the SPUR programme, Paul worked closely with Seth Barrett Tillman, lecturer, on several interesting legal projects. One area of his research focused on British and colonial tax law in the American colonies in the years preceding the American Revolution. This research included reading many primary source documents from Britain and the American colonies, as well as reaching out to the wider academic and archival community for their valuable assistance.
On a somewhat more practical note, Paul also is working on a comparative study of the Irish appellate courts. This work continues: the goal is to publish an opinion editorial after the one year anniversary of the Irish Court of Appeal’s establishment.
The summer research programme has been hugely beneficial for Paul; he has honed his legal writing skills, made several valuable contacts, has learned some law, old and new, domestic and foreign, in the process. Paul has said that he would recommend SPUR to any student: he learned a lot, and it was fun.
Pictured: Paul with Lecturer in Law, Seth Tillman