Executive Team
Dr Carol Coulter is the Executive Director of the Child Law Project. She established the Child Law Project in 2012 and led it, as its Director, over a nine-year period. She is the former Legal Affairs Editor of the Irish Times and ran a Pilot Project on Family Law Reporting for the Courts Service in 2006/2007.
Email: carol@childlawproject.ie
Muriel Hannon is a solicitor who specialises and practises in the area of Assisted Decision-Making, following a number of years in the banking and public sector industries. She has an LLM in Human Rights from NUI Galway and is now a public interest law solicitor working in human rights.
Email: muriel@childlawproject.ie
Reporters
Carla Murphy is a practising barrister and Accredited Mediator. She holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Legal Studies and an Advanced Diploma in Corporate, White Collar & Regulatory Crime. She practices in several areas including asylum & immigration and human rights. She has an interest in childcare law, in particular non-national children taken into care and unaccompanied minors. She has also trained on how to question children and obtain their views. She has been reporting for the Child Law Project since 2019.
Caroline Doyle is a practising barrister based in Dublin. She completed an Undergraduate Degree in UCD in French and English (BA), and thereafter completed a Masters in Common Law (MCL) in UCD. Prior to commencing practice, she worked as a Litigation Executive for five years. Currently practising in both civil and criminal law, with particular areas of interest in employment law, regulatory crime, and asylum & immigration. Child Law Project since 2020.
Emily Ryan BL is a practising barrister in her sixth year of practice, specialising in civil litigation and family law. She previously worked in finance.
Jude Murray BL is a practising barrister in her fifth year of practice, where she has specialised in family and child care law. She previously worked for Amazon.
Mairead O’Flynn is a practising barrister in civil and family law on the Dublin and South Western Circuits, having been called to the Bar in 2016. She specialises in the areas of Education, Child Law and Data Protection. She has a Master’s Degree in Education and a post-graduate diploma in data protection law. She is a former Primary School principal of Scoil Mhuire, Ballymore Eustace, Naas. She tutors on the Advanced Diploma in Education Law for King’s Inns. She has reported for the Child Law Project since 2019.
Oisin Vince Coulter BL is a practising barrister in his third year of practice, specialising in criminal law. He previously worked in the Department of Justice and prior to that as a journalist.
Priscilla McAlister is a qualified barrister practising mostly in Dublin and on the Eastern circuit. She currently works in general practice and has an interest in civil, family and child care. Her prior professional background was in banking and financial services working in mainly legal and compliance roles. In addition to being a qualified barrister she holds the LCI designation and is an accredited CEDR mediator. Priscila joined the reporting team in October 2022.
Patrick O’Connor BL is a practising barrister in his second year of practice. He was previously a judicial assistant to a judge of the Circuit Court and prior to that worked as a teacher in a special school.
Ruth Davis is a practising barrister at the Law Library since 2018 involved in civil litigation in a wide variety of areas including personal injury, medical negligence and data protection. She has a BSc and PhD in microbiology and prior to joining the Law Library, she worked for more than 20 years at senior management level in the Irish Higher Education sector spanning a wide range of strategic and operational portfolios.
Sean Egan BL is a practising barrister in his second year of practice, where he focuses on criminal law, especially in the Children’s Court. He worked part-time with the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and was previously political assistant to Senator Frances Black
Sine Finn BL is a practising barrister in her second year of practice. She previously worked as a research and administrative assistant for the Child Law Project. Before coming to the Bar she worked in the Houses of the Oireachtas.