Proposer: Aisling Ryan Seconder: John Prendergast Manifesto: Manifesto for Auditor, 84th Session UCC Law Society.

My name is Enda Kerr and Im running for the position of Auditor for the 84th Session in the upcoming elections. In this manifesto I will outline why I am running for Auditor, as well as what I hope to bring to the society if I am elected. I am a first year Law International student, and I am currently serving on the executive committee as the First Year Representative of the 83rd Session. Throughout this year Ive been immersed in every aspect of the society, endeavouring to help the Society grow and maintain its fantastic reputation in the College. I am running for Auditor, because I believe from my first year in college and my year as part of the executive committee, I am in a strong position to help the society continue its growth, and to firmly establish its place as the best society in UCC. From being a year representative I feel I am in tune with the general needs of students served by the Society, and this knowledge is not exclusive to the needs of first year students; from being part of the Cork Online Law Review Editorial Board, and the executive committee, I have gotten to know students from every year, as well as their hopes for the Society. With this knowledge at my disposal I am in the ideal position to help the society. Furthermore the fact that I will be a second year student next year will allow me a greater amount of time to immerse myself in the Society and ensure its correct and proper running. Internal: Internal is an integral part of the Law Society, and whilst it has been excellent this year, I want to build on that success and once again bring House Meetings to the forefront of the society. I believe a fine balance has to be struck between holding regular House Meetings and the quality of House Meetings, and this is something which I will strive to do. I want our House Meetings to be something of substance, a bastion of thought provoking debate and talk that will ignite the passions of the members who we serve. To do this, I will work industriously with our Internal Convenor as soon as the new committee is formed to help organise amazing House Meetings with big names, and topics that intrigue and inspire. In order to do this, I believe greater co-operation with other societies will be a necessity, as well as greater use of the Faculty. Through this, we will build a list of contacts that we can call on to speak and provide for us a wondrous quality of House Meeting. In addition to this, I believe setting up a student focus group to discover what our members themselves generally want from House Meetings would be hugely beneficial and allow us to better cater to their needs. Something which I also believe would be worthwhile is to try and obtain a TED licence, to allow us attract a better calibre of speaker, who speaks passionately on their respective topics, and Im sure anyone with any interest in public speaking has taken a look at TED.com and seen the absolutely amazing quality of speaker they have. On a similar topic, I also would like explore the possibility of jointly hosting some Intelligence Squared debates. For those who are not familiar with this name, Intelligence Squared is a group which organise many

high profile debates around the world with world renowned figures such as Stephen Fry and Julian Assange. I believe that the Law Society must cater to all its members and for the 84th session, I would try my best to timetable House Meetings to suit both Evening and Mature students. These two groups offer so much to the society, and to liaise with them more and allow their greater participation is something which will be of great benefit to the society. I would also look in to getting greater involvement from students at House Meetings, through the use of prizes for best speaker etc. Lastly, I would like to expand the remit of the Internal Convenor, to throw off the shackles of convention and give the Convenor a much greater reign. The society is constantly evolving and so are the needs and interests of the members, so, to build on the great success of this years performance of The Trials of Oscar Wilde, I would actively encourage our next convenor to think outside of the box as regards House Meetings and Internal events, affording to our members a far greater variety and ultimately satisfaction. I recognise also, from my own personal experience how time consuming and difficult the role of Internal Convenor can be, and I believe to ensure the continuing high quality of event organised by the Society, an Internal Sub Committee has become a necessity. Education: Education is continually one of the most important aspects of the society, and I would like to continue to ensure the high quality of service and support afforded to students. I believe the Society is primarily an academic one, and whilst we should cater to the social needs of our members, Education should take precedence to allow us cater to our members needs and to do this, I believe that Education should be allocated more of the Societys funding. Firstly, I believe there is a great need for us as a Society to work in close conjunction with Faculty and the Careers Service to provide much needed careers training to students. For Final Year students, it is an abysmally daunting task to have to apply for various internships and traineeships with little or no knowledge of what is expected from their C.V and interview. I would like to invite the Faculty, Careers Service as well as Firms to hold both seminars and individual classes to help improve interview technique and other important attributes amongst our members. Whilst a wider roll out of such a scheme is preferable, I believe the main focus at the start should at least pertain to Final Year students, to ensure that everyone is given the opportunity to live up to their potential and find the employment they desire. Following on from this, the Careers Fair is a fantastic way in which to inform members of the plethora of opportunities open to them with their degree. I would work tirelessly with our Education Officer, to ensure that a wide range of disciplines are represented at the fair, allowing our members see the great choice available to them. Something, which I believe is particularly important here is that students are made aware, not only of the opportunities in commercial Law Firms, but are also allowed the opportunity of seeing the myriad of Human Rights, Criminal, Medical and Family Law opportunities available to them, and I would work diligently with Faculty to provide this for our members. Practical advice on what is required of students, as well information on summer internships and traineeships is also something which is central to the success of such an event and I would ensure that all groups represented at the Fair would provide such information. Working in conjunction with the Faculty, I would also wish to give our members valuable training by offering them the chance to shadow local

members of the bar through the Facultys contacts and thus experience for themselves the application of law outside of academia. As regards the Hague trip, there is not much that can be improved on, other than price and perhaps a greater sense of education and learning on the trip, and I would like to do this by means of getting in contact with members of the ICC so that students have the ability to actually shadow those who work there for the duration of the trip and see the inner workings of the ICC to a greater extent. A trip to see the Dutch Parliament, again liaising with those who work on the inside would also be a great opportunity for members. In addition to this I would also like to organise a First Year trip in conjunction with the Faculty. Running in conjunction with the course for Constitutional law, trips to see the Dail, High Court as well as ras an Uachtarin would provide a practical application of knowledge learned during lectures, and allow our members a greater educational experience. I would also like to investigate the possibility of holding trips to Dublin for members of our society to partake in RTs The Frontline, to afford our members the opportunity of debate on a public forum as well as apply the knowledge gained from their studies to real world situations. To deal with the problem of the scarcity of books for study I would like to propose a scheme whereby students can get their text books for much cheaper. The introduction of a forum or marketplace through the society where students can freely sell and buy books would be incredibly beneficial in allowing students the resources for study as well as alleviate the pressure on the Library as regards the availability of books. Moot: Moot plays an integral role in the society each year, and it is something which I believe must be expanded dramatically, to permit our members a greater opportunity to develop their legal skills and knowledge. I propose the introduction of a showcase Moot, with members of the Junior Bar at the start of the year, to show the quality expected in a moot, as well as show our members how mooting should be performed. In addition to this, I believe it is of paramount importance that we offer our members the best training available to allow them compete. As a result, I would encourage the linking of moot to speaker development, to help our members develop greater speaking confidence as well as critical thinking. This, I would then hope would be followed by exclusively moot orientated workshops every few weeks, given by either members of Faculty or members of the Bar. I would also like to build on the great work of Cian this year, and make a greater number of mooting competitions available to members of the Society, whilst building on the tremendous success of the In-House Moots which are run every year. Lastly, I would like to organise a Moot competition and workshop for second level students. This would be an excellent source of income for the society and would also increase the profile of the society as well as give back to the local community. This would also work in conjunction with the law academy already run by the Faculty. Vice-Auditor: Debating is another major part of the Society, and I would wish for this to continue. It is imperative, that we give every member of the Society the opportunity to improve their public speaking abilities, and this is something where I believe there is huge potential to develop. I would like to have the Society become more involved with the English Speaking Union, so

we can explore the possibility of entering more public speaking competitions, which arent strictly debating orientated. Greater integration between the roles of Moot Convenor, Internal Convenor and Vice-Auditor is something which I believe will really allow debating and public speaking grow in the society. For example, joint workshops as I mentioned earlier on as well as the possibility of House Meetings where students can debate against guest speakers would encourage the growth of debating and public speaking within the Society. Key to the success of debating in the Society is the continuation of the great standard of training available to students. I would wish for this training to become ever more sophisticated, by for example, getting Philosophy lecturers to help in some training sessions, to explain great philosophical arguments which often prove so pivotal in the mastery of debating. Lastly, I would like to express my extreme willingness to form even closer ties with the Philosophical Society, to provide both our members and theirs with the best services we can provide. Finance: My main goal for Finance is to get the cheapest and best possible deal for our members, be it an educational trip or social event. I propose to do this through the selling of advertising, and obtaining of sponsorship from various companies. As well as maintaining the strong links we already have with firms such as A&L Goodbody, William Fry and Arthur Cox in this regard, I believe there is tremendous scope for more inventive means of selling advertising. For example one idea I would have would be to sell advertising on the back of event fliers. Seeking sponsorship and advertising from the right people is also another important factor in the successful acquisition of more funds, for example, if we were to put our case to a suit distributor about why it would be of great benefit to advertise with us, we would have a greater chance of being successful than with a supermarket chain. I would also look for greater transparency as regards the finances of the society, to help avoid the mistakes of past sessions, and make it harder to countenance any deficit. In addition to this I would also advocate the use of smarter banking, such as the use of deposit accounts and internet banking to allow the Society gain interest on funds, and would look to discuss such ideas with Bank of Ireland in the College. Lastly, as regards Finance, I believe the time for the distribution of free Law Ball tickets to Ex-Committee is gone. It may seem like a small thing, but the expense of this measure does add up, and it is an unfair burden on the members of the society. A place on the Executive Committee is a vocation, and you are duly rewarded for this during your time sitting on the Committee, and it is just wrong for you to be given reward when you are no longer earning it. Social: I firstly must commend our Social Secretary Mary Kate Portley on her absolutely terrific job this year, and it is her great work that I take great inspiration from and hope to use as a platform to further improve and build on the social aspect of the Society. Gone are the days where everyone meeting in the pub for a few drinks is good enough for a Society social event I believe. This is something which is increasingly mundane and banal as the year goes on; as Im sure everyone gets sick of doing it after doing it themselves every

week. This is why I would propose that our Law Society social events offer a greater attraction that makes going to the event worthwhile as well as offer an experience which you would not usually get the chance to do. From my year as First Year Representative, I have had much experience in organising such events, and an example of this was my organising of a class party involving bowling and karaoke, taking a step away from the norm of a pub followed by a club. I would urge our next social secretary to think outside of the box to provide the society with better socials. In the wake of mystery tours being banned and the strict anti-drinking policy of the college, I believe there is tremendous opportunity for innovation. I would propose the expansion of our social events to include a far greater variety of activities, such as paintballing, surfing, karting, weekends away etc. This would also offer the Society greater opportunity to integrate with other societies and years where, for example, we could set up paintball games between different years in the Law Society or between our Society and other Societies. Working with other Societies would also be essential in implementing this, and allow us new insights into how to cater for our members. There are so many different things which we would be able to do as a Society, and every avenue should be explored. The rollout of the Societys social card is also something which I believe should be maintained to offer our members the best deals possible around the city. It is very important that the Society caters for the social need of every member, and I believe a survey as to the kind of event members want would also be very beneficial. Lastly, I will endeavour to ensure that for all these events, our members get the best value. COLR: Having sat on the editorial board this year, I am able to recognise the great importance Cork Online Law Review plays in the society. I would like to build on the great success of this years edition to make the COLR launch, one of the Societys hallmark events, and to do this I will offer every assistance I possibly can, be it monetarily, personally or as regards PR, to ensure that COLR remains as well run as it was this year. This would include the provision of prizes to incentivise the submission of essays and letters, the growth of the advertising of COLR to further its reputation and to make its launch a key event in the Societys calendar. Conference: I would like to build on the success of this years Conference, and ensure that the 84ths Conference will be even better and more innovative than the last. The way of doing this would be through increased advertising of the event, and the ensuring of continued sponsorship and funding to make sure that a high level of speaker can still be attracted. Furthermore, the Conference Director and Subcommittee will receive all the backing they need from the Executive Committee to guarantee its success. PR: I would firstly like to set up a PR Subcommittee to ensure that the societys PR can be well managed and carried out effectively. A major part of PR of course is making sure that it is both cost effective and having the desired effect, so for this reason I will endeavour to have experts in the field come and give advice to the PRO and their subcommittee. Competitions are also a great method of advertising the Society and I hope to continue this, as well as make sure that the society has a continued presence on campus, with more days to

promote the society on campus. Every possible avenue needs to be explored as regards PR, to ensure that our events and the Society itself are advertised in the best way possible. Reps: I would like to see an overhaul of the hoodie situation in the society at the moment, to allow for Year Representatives to organise an official Law Society hoodie for their year through the Society, but that is individual to their specific year to give their year greater choice and satisfaction. I would also like for the Representatives to build contacts in other courses for the Society to help advance the PR and integration of our society with the wider college populace. Misc: Lastly, to prevent the quality of the society dipping from year to year, I would like to put in place a mentoring system, whereby the outgoing committee member shows their successor the ropes and how to carry out their job correctly. In addition to this, I would like to introduce a series of written guidelines for the role which would offer helpful advice to prospective committee members and ensure no part of their role is overlooked, allowing them greater scope for creativity to further improve their position and the society. Conclusion: I really believe that I have the ability and drive to make the 84th Session of the Law Society the most successful yet, and I hope that from reading this manifesto, you do too. As much as I want it to be this manifesto is not a complete list of everything I would like to do, and if you would like any more information or talk to me about anything, please feel free to email me at Endakerr@gmail.com. Le Meas, Enda Kerr