The Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), Athlone Campus, has been awarded accreditation from the oldest and most prestigious law school in Ireland, King’s Inns, for its highly sought-after undergraduate law degrees.
From September 2023 onward all students enrolling in TUS Athlone’s Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Business and Law and Bachelor of Laws (Hons) in Law will be eligible to apply directly to King’s Inns to sit their entrance exams and complete the barrister-at-law degree in just one year.
To be eligible to apply to sit this examination, an applicant must hold either a King’s Inns’ approved law degree/approved postgraduate diploma or the Diploma in Legal Studies from King’s Inns.
Head of the Department of Business and Management Dr Alison Sheridan welcomed news of the accreditation, saying it will make TUS Athlone law degrees even more “highly sought-after”.
“Our law degree programmes here at TUS Athlone are highly sought-after and now with the King’s Inns’ seal of approval, they will be even more so now that the bar is a more accessible option for first year law students and all subsequent cohorts.
“Significant credit is due to our law lecturing team who work tirelessly to ensure our programmes are operating at the cutting edge, bringing law to life in the lecture hall through simulated court room experiences, guest speakers with a wealth of legal experience in a range of areas, field trips and more.”
To mark the auspicious occasion, King’s Inns’ Registrar Marcella Higgins made her first official post-accreditation visit to TUS Athlone earlier this month, meeting with the law lecturing team, TUS President Prof. Vincent Cunnane, and students.
The visit, which will take annually, is intended to raise awareness among the students of the various routes they can take to becoming a barrister, now that the option has opened for them.
It also presents an opportunity to discuss faculty approaches to academic standards and challenges like artificial intelligence to ensure a certain degree of harmonisation across accredited universities and to share good practice.
Congratulating TUS Athlone, Ms Higgins said, “Achieving this prestigious accreditation means that the undergraduate law programmes offered by TUS Athlone have been thoroughly evaluated and meet King’s Inns’ rigorous standard.
“We congratulate the university on reaching this significant milestone and look forward to welcoming the pipeline of keen legal talent from TUS Athlone into King’s Inn as they hone their talents even further through our barrister-at-law degree.”
TUS Athlone’s Bachelor of Business (Hons) Business and Law and Bachelor of Laws (Hons) in Law degrees are now doubly accredited, holding both King’s Inns’ accreditation and that of the Law Society of Ireland.
King’s Inns is Ireland’s ‘Inn of Court’, training and admitting legal professionals who wish to be awarded the degree of barrister–at–law necessary to be called to the Bar by the Chief Justice of Ireland, while the Law Society of Ireland is the professional body for solicitors.