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Aisling Parkes

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Aisling Parkes

Senior Lecturer

 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5472-8230
20012026

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Biography

Aisling Parkes is a Senior Lecturer in Law with specialist expertise in international children's rights, child law and Sports Law. She joined UCC School of Law in 2008. Aisling's work is multidisciplinary in nature as, in addition to her research and teaching in law, she maintains a strong interest in Applied Psychology, having recently completed a BA in Applied Psychology. She is a UCC law graduate, (BCL 2000; LLM 2001; PhD 2006; PGCTL 2009, PG Dip TL 2010, MATLHE 2011, MA in Applied Psychology (Coaching Psychology) 2015; BA in Applied Psychology 2020). Aisling is currently co-director and founder of the Sports Law Clinic at UCC. She is also the Disability Liaison Representative for the School, a role which together with that of Student Wellbeing Officer, she was awarded the UCC Frank McGrath Perpetual Award for Equality and Welfare in 2016. She was also the Evening BCL Programme Director until 2017. Aisling was awarded the UCC President's Award for Teaching Excellence in October 2014. Aisling's research interests lie in the areas of international children's rights, child development and psychology and in particular, the right of children to be heard (Article 12 CRC) and the rights of children with a parent in prison. Her research also engages with critical areas of child law (including child care proceedings in the district court and adoption), as well as international disability law and sports law. Aisling's publications and conference papers are of a national and international nature. Her book Children and International Human Rights Law: The Right of the Child to be Heard, was published by Routledge-Cavendish in 2013. Aisling is actively engaged in interdisciplinary research on the rights of children with a parent in prison (with Dr Fiona Donson, School of Law), research which has attracted a great deal of funding and has had real im

Research Interests

To date, the central focus of my research has been on international children's rights law and, in particular, the right of the child to be heard in all matters affecting them. My research has focussed specifically on the nature and scope of this right and the extent to which it has been implemented under international law. Indeed, it represents the first international comparative legal analysis of its kind, the primary aim of which was to identify the extent to which the right of the child to be heard has been implemented in practice across a variety of jurisdictions. At national level, I am actively engaged in research on Irish Adoption Law and Policy as well as the rights of children affected by parental imprisonment. I also have an avid interest in the issue of cyber bullying.The publications which I have completed to date have built upon this research and have not only explored the extent to which this right has been reflected in specific areas of Irish Law such as legal proceedings, but it has also identified the extent to which the voice of the child is protected for certain vulnerable groups of children such as children with disabilities or indeed children in care. Conference papers I have presented have also built upon this research further and have explored the conflict which exists between this fundamental right of the child and the use of age limits in areas such as adoption, custody and access and healthcare. The extent to which this right is respected in Ireland in areas of youth justice has also been illustrated.I have also been actively involved in other research projects as a research assistant in the areas of the children's court, matrimonial property law and barriers to the implementation of children's rights. My Masters thesis was grounded in Family law and focussed specifically on The Nature and Scope of Common Law Marriage.

Teaching Activities

Aisling was awarded the UCC President's award for Excellence in Teaching in October 2014. Her teaching interests are diverse and are conducted at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Undergraduate Modules Aisling has taught Family Law: Child Law at the School of Law since 2010. This module is of an interdisciplinary nature and engages with areas which are sensitive in nature and are constantly changing. Topics covered include: adoption, guardianship, custody and access, mediation and children, domestic violence and children amongst others. Aisling together with her colleague, Dr Séan Ó Conaill developed a Sports Law Module in 2014-15 which runs on an annual basis. On the back of a New Foundations Award, Dr Parkes and Dr Ó Conaill founded and established an undergraduate Sports Law Clinic, the first student led undergraduate sports law clinic in the world. This Clinic has since successfully run on an annual basis. Since 2008, Aisling has taught other subjects including Contract Law, Irish Property Law, Landlord and Tenant Law, English Land Law and Laws of Evidence. Interdisciplinary teaching includes: Law for Social Workers (years 1 and 2).

Research Grants

Project: IRC 2012-13 - Seen and not heard? The lived realities of children and young people’s participation in Ireland in their homes, schools and communities ( )
Funding Body: Irish Research Council
Start/End Dates: 01-JAN-13 / 31-DEC-14 Award: €50,000.00 Project: Exploratory workshop - bringing together key experts on the rights of children with a parent in prison. ( R16243)
Funding Body: Irish Research Council
Start/End Dates: 01-MAR-15 / 30-NOV-15 Award: €4,960.00 Project: IRC"New Foundations Award 2014 Sports Law Clinic"Dr A Parkes [X] ( R16242)
Funding Body: Irish Research Council
Start/End Dates: 01-MAR-15 / 30-NOV-15 Award: €4,390.00 Project: IRC New Foundation Award 2014 The Rights of Children of Incarcerated Parents. ( R15567)
Funding Body: Irish Research Council
Start/End Dates: 15-MAR-14 / 15-DEC-14 Award: €5,452.00 Project: Adoption. ( R15583)
Funding Body: Irish Research Council
Start/End Dates: 15-MAR-14 / 30-NOV-14 Award: €6,000.00 Project: A research study to explore the experiences of victims/survivors of domestic violence and abuse, including Children, in custody and access proceedings in the Irish Family Law system. ( R22455)
Funding Body: Irish Funded Research
Start/End Dates: 15-JUN-24 / 12-NOV-24 Award: €3,000.00 Project: Department of Justice Tender for Research examining the operation of the in camera rule in the context of family law proceedings ( R22257)
Funding Body: Dept of Justice & Equality
Start/End Dates: 11-APR-24 / 30-MAY-25 Award: €38,683.00 Project: The Lived experience of Intercountry Adoption in Ireland for Children and their adoptive families: an exploratory study ( R22763)
Funding Body: Irish Funded Research
Start/End Dates: 29-OCT-24 / 10-JUN-25 Award: €8,529.00 Project: Silence in the courtroom, silence in the street? An exploratory study of women's experiences of the Irish family law system in parental separation and divorce ( )
Funding Body:
Start/End Dates: 01-APR-21 / 29-DEC-22 Award: €5,000.00 Project: Research report on guidance on contact time for infants and young children in separated families, ( )
Funding Body: Other: Not Listed
Start/End Dates: 15-DEC-21 / 15-DEC-22 Award: €30,000.00 Project: A research study to explore the experiences of victims/survivors of domestic violence and abuse, including Children, in custody and access proceedings in the Irish Family Law system. ( )
Funding Body: Other: Not Listed
Start/End Dates: 01-JUN-23 / 30-DEC-24 Award: €100,000.00

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  1. SDG 4 - Quality Education
    SDG 4 Quality Education
  2. SDG 5 - Gender Equality
    SDG 5 Gender Equality
  3. SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
    SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

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