Dalriada School Takes Legal Challenge to New York
17.10.2011
DALRIADA SCHOOL TAKES LEGAL CHALLENGE TO NEW YORK
Northern Ireland will be represented for the first time ever at the Empire Mock Trials to be held in New York this week and our reputation for excellence in legal advocacy will be in the hands of eleven young men and women from Dalriada School in Ballymoney.
Having won the Northern Ireland finals of the Mock Bar Trials held at the Royal Court of Justice in Belfast in March, they were selected from hundreds of international winners to join 34 teams from as far afield as Australia and Korea for a four day marathon, fighting a Defamation case to see who will be world champion legal eagles.
Before they go, however, they were back in the dock in Belfast as their Barrister coaches Craig Dunford and Jennifer Kirkwood put them through final legal arguments.
Senior teacher Susan Gregg who has mentored the Dalriada Mock Trial teams for the last four years, says the New York experience will not only reinforce career decisions for some but will strengthen an already well developed team spirit and personal self-confidence.
“We are very grateful to the Bar Council not only for their financial support but also for the many hours Craig and Jennifer devoted to training and mentoring our students. This is an incredibly valuable experience for them and we are delighted that four of our winning students are now studying law at university while others are going into careers such as medicine and business where a knowledge and respect for the law is so important.”
In welcoming the Dalriada team to the Court for their final rehearsal, Bar Council Chairman Adrian Colton QC, said it was vital that professional organisations supported education in the most practical way possible.
“Time is often more valuable than money when it comes to what we can put back into our education system and to the future of our young people. As a Bar Council we are enormously proud of their achievements and we are looking forward to them coming back in the same way they leave us - as world beaters.”
The Justice Minister, David Ford, who visited the rehearsal, echoed the Chairman’s comments describing the Dalriada team as world class ambassadors for Northern Ireland :
These young people represent what is brightest and best about Northern Ireland today. They are flying the standard for us on the world stage and I am confident that they will do so with skill and style. I am grateful to the Bar Council for the support it has been providing throughout. The Dalriada team members have learned much from the legal professionals who have been mentoring them and I am certain that they will argue their case next week in New York with confidence and conviction.”
For further information contact Sheila Davidson 07785793672 or Maria McCann 07802934246