Roscommon student wins award in Law Society essay competition

The Law Society of Ireland has named Roiri Gately from Mercy College, Roscommon a merit winner in the Gráinne O’Neill Memorial Legal Essay Competition 2026.

Offaly Transition Year student Rhea Schreiber from Sacred Heart Secondary School, Tullamore, was the winner. The winner were announced at a special ceremony for finalists held at the Law Society in Dublin last week. Alog with Roiri Gately from Mercy College, Roscommon, classmate, Evelyn Sarin, was also a finalist at the event.

Now in its fourth year, the annual competition invites TY students from across the country to submit a 1,500-word legal essay on a specific topic. This year, over 500 essays were submitted by students from 67 schools across 20 counties, each exploring the topic: Protecting Voices, Preventing Harm: Legal Challenges in Online Freedom of Speech.

The essay competition aims to inspire legal learning amongst students across the country, by encouraging them consider contemporary justice issues, and legal matters that they might encounter in their daily lives.

Thirty-four finalists attended the event. Aishling Heavey, Holy Rosary College, Mountbellew, Galway was awarded second place, while Niamh Doyle, Our Lady's Bower, Athlone, Westmeath took home third place. Seven merit certificates were also awarded.

President of the Law Society, Rosemarie Loftus, said: “The Gráinne O’Neill Legal Essay Competition is a highlight in the Law Society’s public legal education events calendar each year. It is an opportunity to engage with students from every corner of Ireland, to encourage them to consider law and legal concepts, and to provide them with an opportunity to reflect on how these might relate to their daily lives.”