Congratulations to second year Law Plus students Norah O’Brien and Jemima Nugent who won the UCC Matheson Moot Court Open 2018 last weekend! Norah was also awarded the Best Speaker prize at the competition. The two students write about their fantastic achievement here:  

“On Friday, the 19th of October 2018, we eagerly travelled down to University College Cork, not knowing what lay ahead of us. This was our first external moot, so nerves were inevitable. Once we met the other teams from around Ireland, conversation started, and we soon realised that this was a valuable experience worth fighting for. We were adamant that all of our efforts over the past few weeks were not going to go unnoticed by the judges. The preliminary rounds were quite tough. They took a lot of energy from us, however, with each round we continued to persevere, gaining more confidence and drive. We were blown away when the moot convener announced that the University of Limerick had qualified for the semi-final! We represented the Appellant in this round, and it was clear that based on the case facts that the law was not on our side. Being the underdog forced us to become more creative with our arguments and required a deeper understanding of the law from both of us. We were very interdependent, and our teamwork skills developed hugely.

Upon reaching the finals against a well-experienced Maynooth team, we were nothing short of exhausted. The final was by far the most daunting of all the moots. The judges probed us with many difficult questions and the rebuttal rounds were not for the faint hearted. The standard expected from the judges demanded a new level of confidence in our speeches that we successfully reached by stepping outside our comfort zones, answering each question with confidence. It was an amazing experience to be judged by an actual Circuit Court Judge! We each had ten minutes to present our case. Time management was a skill we had mastered by the final round. The final rebuttal was submitted on behalf of the Respondent and the judges made their decision. The winners were announced Saturday night in the Maldron Hotel and the University of Limerick had won the UCC Matheson Moot Court Open 2018 for the first time. We are very proud to have had the opportunity to represent our supportive University. The competition was truly an exhilarating experience we hope to experience again!”