UCD students on EU trip
Four UCD LLM students recently took part in the 2010 Irish Law Students trip to the European Union institutions, along with students from University College Cork and the National University of Ireland, Galway.
This annual trip is made possible by financial support from the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice, as well as the co-operation of staff of the Parliament, the Court and the European Commission.
This year the students visited the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, where they attended part of the public hearing, before a Grand Chamber, in Case C‑550/07 P Akzo Nobel Chemicals & Ackros Chemicals v Commission, a major case concerning the scope of legal professional privilege in competition investigations, in which several Member States (including Ireland) and professional associations intervened. Judge Aindrias Ó Caoimh and Judge Kevin O’Higgins kindly hosted a lunch for the students after they attended the public hearing and a question and answer session with refrendaires and legal researchers, in which Judge O’Higgins also took part.
On the following two days the students visited the European Parliament in Strasbourg, where they met nine of Ireland’s twelve MEPs, and the European Commission in Brussels, where they were given a series of presentations by spokespersons for the European Commission on topics such as competition policy and the work of the Legal Service in the Commission.
People working in all three of the EU institutions visited made themselves available for lively and informative question and answer sessions with the students, about issues of European law and policy and career prospects for law graduates in the EU.
The trip was highly appreciated by the UCD students on it, whose comments included the following:
'This trip was a brilliant learning process for me on the major European institutions and I gained a better understanding about the European Union which certainly helps with my LL.M module studies. At the same time, I enjoyed of spending time with new friends during the trip who shared the same passion of making effort to understand. I believe we had a lot of fun together!' (Shuo Liu)
'This law trip was very helpful for me to understand the European Union and EU law. It was one of the best experiences in my LLM study.' (Hong Lou)
'The trip to the EU institutions was the highlight of my second year as a part time LLM student. It was a friendly and informative event which cast new light on knowledge acquired from studies. Apart from witnessing a day’s activities in each of the EU institutions, we learned about what it’s like to be an EU official, and received practical advice on applying for a position within the institutions. We met with energetic people who encouraged and answered questions honestly, clearly, directly. Having been through this experience, I can say that my studies would have not been complete otherwise.' (Isida Tabaku)
Shuo Liu (second from left, second row), Isida Tabaku (second from right, second row), Hong Lou (first right, second row) and Maebh O'Gorman (second from right, third row). 
