UCD to host the largest public law conference ever held in Ireland (July 2026)
We are delighted to announce that the 2026 Annual Conference of the International Society of Public Law (ICON-S) will take place in July 2026 at University College Dublin, hosted by the UCD Centre for Constitutional Studies and UCD Sutherland School of Law.
This landmark event will be the largest public law conference ever held in Ireland, bringing together over 2,000 scholars, students, judges, and practitioners from around the globe. UCD’s beautiful campus will be a vibrant hub of intellectual exchange and collaboration, exploring the most pressing questions in constitutional, administrative, international and public law.
The announcement was made in July 2025 by UCD Law alumna, Professor Gráinne de Búrca, at the 2025 ICON-S conference hosted by the University of Brasília (UnB) in Brazil. Professor de Búrca is Honorary President of ICON-S and was recently appointed a Visiting Full Professor at UCD Sutherland School of Law.
Commenting on the announcement that UCD has been selected to host this major international law conference, the Dean of Law, Professor Laurent Pech said
“UCD Sutherland School of Law has a long tradition of public law scholarship reflected in the UCD Centre for Constitutional Studies and is proud to have been selected to organise and host the next ICON-S annual conference. At a time where the rule of law is declining globally, I cannot think of a better scholarly forum to discuss the most pressing issues in the public law field.”
Professor Eoin Carolan SC, Director of the UCD Centre for Constitutional Studies added "It's a real privilege for UCD to have been awarded the honour of hosting such a major event. With so many international legal figures coming to Dublin, it will be a great opportunity for the Irish legal community to showcase its talent and expertise to a global audience.”
(opens in a new window)The International Society of Public Law (ICON-S) is the world’s largest and leading learned society for all areas of public law - administrative law, constitutional law, international law, and far beyond. The annual conference of ICON-S is renowned for fostering inclusive, cutting-edge scholarship and interdisciplinary dialogue.
In 2026, participants can expect an exciting programme of panels, keynotes, and social events - all set against the backdrop of Dublin’s rich cultural and historical landscape. UCD looks forward to welcoming the world’s public law community to Dublin for what promises to be a truly unforgettable conference. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details — ICON-S 2026 at UCD is not to be missed!
Chief Justice chairs opening plenary at Public Law Conference 2025
The Hon. Mr. Justice Donal O’Donnell, Chief Justice chairing the opening plenary
In late May 2025, we were pleased to welcome a distinguished line up of speakers to the Annual Conference of the UCD Centre for Constitutional Studies. This year’s conference was our most successful to date with an extremely engaged audience of legal professionals in attendance. Participants included the Chief Justice, two judges of the Court of Appeal, many senior barristers, representatives of leading law firms and speakers from both the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisors. We also welcomed many leading academic experts on public law from UCD and other Irish and UK universities.
The Hon. Mr. Justice Donal O’Donnell, Chief Justice chaired the plenary session where “Constitutional stability and the rule of law” was the topic discussed. University College London’s Professor Colm O’Cinneide delivered a thought-provoking paper titled ‘An island of stability?: Irish constitutional law and the democratic rule of law crisis’. He was followed by an excellent presentation from Dr Joelle Grogan, the legal academic, broadcaster, and expert on the rule of law who works across the fields of UK, and EU law. She titled her discussion: “In stormy seas: democratic deconsolidation and rule of law breakdown beyond Ireland”.
Professor Colm O’Cinneide and Joelle Grogan speaking at the first plenary session
For plenary two: “General issues in public law”, we were honoured to welcome Mr Justice Brian O’Moore of the Court of Appeal, to chair a panel with speakers Joe Jeffers SC, Professor Catherine Donnelly SC of TCD and Professor Eoin Carolan SC of UCD.
The Hon. Mr Justice Brian O’Moore of the Court of Appeal chairing plenary two
Chief Justice Mr Donal O’Donnell with Dr Saoirse Enright, Benedetta Lobina and Professor Eoin Carolan
There were four further sessions across the day with parallel sessions running across the main areas of public law featuring leading practitioners and academics discussing the following topics:
- Parliamentary Privilege in practice
- Equality before the law
- Legal costs and access to justice
- Regulation and investigations
- Information and data protection
- Commercial and arbitration
- Immigration and citizenship
- Planning and environmental
The full conference programme, outlining all speakers and topics, can be downloaded at this link.
The UCD Centre for Constitutional Studies is delighted to open bookings for the 2025 edition of the annual 'Current Issues' public law conference which takes place in UCD Sutherland School of Law on 28 May.
A full programme with details of the topics and the schedule for the day will be available closer to the conference date. This year's conference features a wide-ranging line up of participants which include the Chief Justice, two judges of the Court of Appeal, many senior barristers, representatives of leading law firms and from the Attorney General's office and Office of Parliamentary legal advisors, in addition to academics from UCD and other Irish universities. Current details are as follows:
Date: 28 May 2025
Time: 9.30am to 4.30pm
Title: "Current issues in Irish public law"
Programme: Download here
Venue: UCD Sutherland School of Law (in person)
CPD: 5 CPD Points
The 2025 conference will feature a mixture of general panels on public law, as well as specialist panels on a range of areas including regulatory and investigations, the law relating to the Oireachtas, environmental and planning law, immigration, citizenship and EU law. The conference will be of particular interest to those working in or with organisations in the public sector, civil service or regulatory fields. Participants will include:
General Fee: €200 per person
Reduced Fee: €100 per person for practitioners with less than 3 years experience, students, those employed in the NGO sector and the unwaged.
Book your place at the links below. Email queries to (opens in a new window)law.events@ucd.ie.
The UCD Centre for Constitutional Studies will host their annual review of the major developments in Irish constitutional law as follows:
Date: 22 January 2025, 1.30pm to 5.15pm
Title: ‘Annual Update on Constitutional Law: 2024 in Review’
Venue: UCD Sutherland School of Law (in person)
Note: The event takes place in term-time so there will be limited (paid) parking available.
This popular event, which has been running since 2011, features speakers from academia and legal practice in a look back at the most important cases and developments from 2024. The event includes Eoin Carolan SC's overview of the leading cases of 2024, as well as an in-depth analysis of the implications of the Family and Care referendum results, as well as of the Supreme Court decisions in cases such as Delaney v PIAB, O'Meara v the Minister for Social Protection, In the matter of M McD v Child and Family Agency, Kerins v Dáil Éireann, AZ v Minister for Justice and Equality and BM v Chief Appeals Officer.
Programme and Speakers
1.00: Registration/coffee
1.30 – 2.15:
Eoin Carolan SC Introduction and overview: the leading cases of 2024.
2.30 - 3.45:
Conor Power SC: A.Z, M.Z and C.Z (a minor) v Minister for Justice and Equality [2024] IESC 35
Dr Emer Hunt:O’Meara andv. Minister for Social Protection[2024] IESC 1.
Ailbhe O'Neill SC:Delaney v Personal Injuries Assessment Board and others[2024] IESC 10.
3.45 - 4.00: Coffee break
4.00 - 5.15:
Dr Donal Coffey: Kerins v Dáil Eireann [2024] IESC 24.
Ass Prof John O'Dowd: Separation of powers:Gearty v DPP [2024] IESC 45 andMulreaney & McGrath vDPP [2024] IESC 50.
The fee to attend is €125, with a reduced rate of €75 for students, NGO's and practitioners of less than 3 years.
There will be 3.5 points available for attendees who have a requirement for CPD.