Mary Curtin, a Law and Accounting student, was awarded a  Silver Medal award at a graduation ceremony held in UL on the 26^th August. A total of 5 Silver medals are awarded annually – one to each faculty and one to interfaculty programmes in the University of Limerick. The medals are awarded to the undergraduate students within each faculty graduating with the highest overall QCA in their final year of study. Mary’s achievements to-date include the Mason Hayes & Curran Company Law prize; A & L Goodbody Solicitors Prize; the UL Law Essay Competition prize in 2015; and  a UL scholarship based on top performance in the Leaving Cert. Mary will be starting her PhD at the University of Limerick this September. The purpose of Mary’s research is to examine why farm ownership continues to be a male dominated sector in Ireland. The research will focus on legal barriers to gender equality in farm ownership; financial barriers including tax implications; social and cultural barriers; and identifying international best practices in social and economic policy that facilitate enhanced female participation.