Struck by the injustice of a young girl’s death at the hands of a British soldier, a 12-year-old Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh posed a tearful question to her mother, Nessa. In response, her mother encouraged her to take matters into her own hands rather than dwelling on the negative.
This occurred in the late 80s after Ní Ghrálaigh discovered a leaflet detailing the tragic story of Majella O’Hare in her mother’s book collection. Majella was similarly aged when she was fatally shot in the back on her way to church along a County Armagh backroad in 1976.
Nessa, a straight-talking educator, taught her daughter not to feel sorry for herself in the face of adversity but to rise above it and strive for the change she desired. Ní Ghrálaigh preserved the brochure, framing it on her study wall upon concluding her legal training at London’s Matrix Chambers in 2006.
The advice from her mother reverberates powerfully in Ní Ghrálaigh’s professional life, propelling her into a career dedicated to tackling injustice. As a devoted human rights supporter, Ní Ghrálaigh, who is a member of the bars of England, Wales, Ireland, and Northern Ireland, made international headlines earlier this year when she represented South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in an assertion against Israel’s perceived genocide in Gaza.
Humbled by her contribution to the initiation and execution of the South Africa case, Ní Ghrálaigh deemed her advocacy for the Palestinians, a wounded and beleaguered people, standing before the court an honour and privilege for her both legally and personally. Acknowledging the historical significance and responsibility of her position, she was deeply moved and humbled by the Irish public’s overwhelming support, love, and pride following the announcement of her participation in the case.
A man sent a photo of himself, his wife, and their child visiting the mother’s grave in County Mayo, expressing that he felt compelled to do so to offer his thoughts for her and to show gratitude for her inspiration in his profession. Ní Ghrálaigh, who has withdrawn from the case in South Africa but still is focused on the underlying issues, presently has a legal case under her wing. This includes a lawsuit by Palestinian NGO Al-Haq, backed by the Galway-based Global Legal Action Network, against the UK regarding its weapon exports to Israel.
The British Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, recently stated that Britain would put a halt on select exports to Israel, just after getting a legal threat of more proceedings, including interim injunctions. The intervention by Ireland in the South African trial, aimed at expanding the genocide definition, was commended by Ní Ghrálaigh. Based on the stated “collective punishment of an entire population”, this intervention, especially considering to withhold humanitarian aid, thereby equating famine to genocide, is compellingly powerful.
Moreover, Ní Ghrálaigh, an expert in these issues, could offer a significant contribution to Ireland’s case. Although she is yet to be asked about Ireland’s intervention, she stated that it would be wonderful to represent Ireland in such a way since she has already done so for several other countries throughout her career.
Ní Ghrálaigh has a long-standing concern about the situation in Palestine. She has spent substantial time in the West Bank teaching Palestinian lawyers and students about how to handle UN special processes and documenting war crimes. Following this, she took part in a fact-finding mission to Gaza in 2009, right after the Operation Cast Lead by Israel.
Her childhood years, along with her elder sister Muireann, were rather “wandering” between London, Dublin (her mother’s birth place), and County Mayo, her father’s native and a place where her mother also had firm ties. She learned swimming and biking and also got absorbed into the Irish history and language in Belderrig, County Mayo, which she refers to as a small piece of paradise on the Wild Atlantic Way.
Lamentably, she lost her touch with Irish, but she aspires to “re-immersion in the Gaeltacht”, which she has included in her “bucket list”.
After acquiring her degree from Trinity College in Dublin, her mother moved to London, bringing her daughters along. While they got most of their primary education in London, they retained their Irish roots through language and cultural classes. Their mother ensured they did not grow up in an insular environment; they familiarised themselves with the city, exploring various multicultural events and renowned museums and galleries of London.
Their mother kept a close eye on the events transpiring in Ireland, particularly as her relatives lived in Derry. This close connection to Ireland’s issues led to a keen interest in protest law, likely due to early experiences attending protests with her mother.
Reflecting on the mid-1980s to early 1990s, the tensions and overt racism, including anti-Irish sentiments, were palpable. She mentions how they even attempted to change their traditional names at their primary school, instead of taking the time to pronounce them correctly.
Inspired by the Majella O’Hare pamphlet, she started frequenting the Old Bailey, keenly observing criminal cases. Though her family consisted mostly of teachers and not lawyers, she found herself engrossed in the courtroom’s drama. However, an unfortunate incident involving an angry mob following a guilty verdict led to an abrupt end to her visits to the Old Bailey.
Over a decade later, she found herself back in the Old Bailey, this time as a budding barrister. Their secondary school education was completed at a convent boarding school in France, a decision influenced by their mother’s fondness for French culture and positive memories of her time at Dublin’s Mount Sackville school.
Returning to England, Ní Ghrálaigh undertook her studies in Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge, a pursuit she partly financed with earnings from bar tending, babysitting, and various other occupations. She specialised in French and Latin, which incidentally, are the official tongues of international law. Her competence in French was drastically put to the test as she was required to intiate the South African case in French at the ICJ.
Upon completion of her studies, Ní Ghrálaigh dedicated two years to working for a US-based think tank in their London office with the intention of saving up for her legal studies. The untimely passing of her best friend, Mary-Frances, at the tender age of 24, acted as the catalyst for her transition into the law profession. Subsequently, she resigned from her position and reached out to the human rights NGO British Irish Rights Watch (BIRW) and three law firms, offering her services on a voluntary basis to gain some practical exposure in human rights law.
Ní Ghrálaigh was given the chance to intern at BIRW within a matter of days. One of her initial assignments entailed making sure that all the casualties during the Troubles were well-documented, a task that was as distressing as it was heart-wrenching. After being employed as a paralegal in one of the law firms, she managed to juggle between her academic and professional commitments till she was given an opportunity by BIRW to function independently as an observer at the inquiry into the gruesome 1972 Bloody Sunday killings in Derry.
Despite experiencing a rather traumatic incident involving her bedroom ceiling collapsing in her rented accommodation in Derry, she spent a year attentively observing skilled barristers representing the victims’ families, and subsequently devoted another year to assisting the law firm Madden & Finucane on the inquiry.
Convinced of pursuing a career at the bar, she returned to the capital to complete her studies and was officially inducted to the bar in 2005. Since then, she has amassed considerable experience in human rights, public international law, criminal law and public law, an accomplishment that has earned her multiple awards. She proudly holds an LLM from New York University and has served as a Visiting Fellow at Harvard Law School.
An authority on the laws surrounding protests, Ní Ghrálaigh boasts a track record that includes several significant legal victories. Among these are her successful defence of two activists who faced charges for trying to disable Typhoon jets destined for bombing missions in Yemen and the “Stansted 15”, a group arrested for stopping a deportation flight that was carrying human trafficking victims. She also defended one of the “Colston four” who were all acquitted due to her legal arguments over charges related to dismantling a Bristol statue honouring slave trader Edward Colston.
Throughout her career, she has been involved in numerous legal suits relating to The Troubles on all sides. She worked on the case of the “Hooded Men”, who were 14 men subjected to torture during unlawful imprisonment in 1971, and she remembers a formal apology issued by the Northern Ireland Police Service as one of the outcomes of this case in June of 2023, as one of the men, Joe Clarke, was on his deathbed.
She holds no idyllic perceptions that the law can provide the answer to every problem but believes it has the potential to instigate significant change.
Ní Ghrálaigh perceives the law as a mechanism that we can apply in an effort to avert human injustices or to hold culpable parties accountable. She often feels overwhelmed when confronted with the atrocities in places like Gaza. However, she is driven by her belief is that being a lawyer involves making an effort to effect change.
Ní Ghrálaigh is concerned about the rise in violent anti-immigrant protests occurring in Ireland and throughout Europe. However, in her capacity as a specialist in protest law, she opines that nations have adequate existing legislation to handle this concern and do not necessitate further or emergency powers.
The European Convention on Human Rights stipulates that if protesters resort to violence, incite conflict, or renounce democratic values, then the right to freedom of speech and expression does not apply. She believes acts like setting fire to hostels or physically harming those who have escaped unimaginable ordeals are not actions to which freedom of speech and the right to protest apply. Even if these rights are invoked, they are largely conditional and can be curtailed if required by law, including for the benefit, rights, and liberties of others.
The recent anti-immigration demonstrations in Dublin have unsettled her greatly. As a diaspora member, she finds it deeply distressing. Imelda May’s poem, “You Don’t Get To Be Racist and Irish,” in her opinion, succinctly portrays the situation. Ní Ghrálaigh is struck by the line, “You don’t have the right to cherish your heritage, struggles, and liberation battles while suppressing someone else.”
Of all the cases she’s dealt with, one particular instance stands out where she was asked by a lawyer to examine an old case for a client whose sister had been tragically killed. His sister was Majella O’Hare.
Ní Ghrálaigh expressed her heartfelt wish that her mother could have heard that particular narrative. But she did meet Michael O’Hare and explained to him the profound influence his sister had, and continues to have, on her life. Although Majella only lived for 12 years, she views her work as a significant part of that young girl’s enduring legacy.