President Nolan Congratulates Silken Thomas Moot Winners
Grainne Hawkes and Amy Dean of Trinity College Dublin defeated a team from UCD on Saturday, 18th February 2012, to win the 2nd annual Silken Thomas Moot Court Trophy. The competition, which was based on issues relating to dying declarations and exceptions to the hearsay rule in evidence law, was hotly contested and participants exhibited a high degree of skill in mooting. The Final round was judged by Justice Nial Fennelly of the Irish Supreme Court, Ms Carol Coulter, Legal Editor, Irish Times, and Prof. Sandeep Gopalan of NUI Maynooth Law. Justice Fennelly congratulated the winners and complimented them on their skilful advocacy. He stressed the need for law students to learn to advocate for their side even when the legal rules might suggest a weak case. Ms Coulter said that she found the problem to be a fascinating one and that all participants deserved to be proud of their efforts.
Prof Philip Nolan, President of NUI Maynooth, congratulated the winners and expressed admiration for the high quality of lawyering skills on display. He also paid tribute to the NUI Maynooth team – first year students, Davida Diamond and Rachel Nolan – who reached the semi-finals and lost narrowly to the eventual winners. He said that it was a testament to the quality of the study of law at Maynooth that two students in their 1st year, with just 6 months of legal education, could advance to that stage and perform so impressively.
Prof Sandeep Gopalan thanked the NUIM Law Society and Mr Philip Devoy, Moot Court Officer, for the smooth organization of the event. He congratulated all participants and expressed gratitude to the judges for their support for mooting. He also thanked the prize sponsors, Matheson Ormsby Prentice for their continued support for the competition.
