Kildare school gets to chat online to Ireland's top judges

Coláiste Lorcáin was chosen to participate in Comhrá, an educational and outreach initiative of the Supreme Court of Ireland.

Only four schools in the country were chosen for this pilot. Comhrá, the Irish for ‘conversation’ enables students to engage with Judges of the Supreme Court of Ireland live via video-conferencing technology.

The initiative is a collaboration between the Supreme Court, the Courts Service and the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD). Yesterday, December 9, 25 fifth year students in Coláiste Lorcáin, Castledermot participated in a live questions and answers session with two judges of the Supreme Court, Mr. Justice John Mac Menaminand Ms. Justice Elizabeth Dunne.

Each student had to submit a question in advance and each got the chance to put these to the judges live via secure video conferencing. The technology used to host the Comhrá call is the same as that used by the Supreme Court to conduct remote court hearings, which commenced in April 2020.

"Our students, under the guidance of Ms. Niamh O’Halloran, were encouraged to be creative and engaging in designing questions. Some of the questions being put to the judges were: ‘As a Supreme Court Judge who tells you what to do? Do you have a boss? Have you ever felt that you had an advantage in your job because you were male? Do you think you have ever
made the wrong decision in a case / trial? As a female judge, has anyone in the court ever tried to ‘mansplain’ about a subject you have a degree in to you?", said the school.

"We would like to extend our thanks to Mr. Patrick Conboy, Courts Service and the Chief Justice, Mr. Frank Clarke. We were truly honoured to be included in this pilot project and all participating students thoroughly enjoyed this unique event and learned so much from the experience."