Cork-based solicitor Shane McCarthy has been conferred with a Doctorate in Law. Shane, who is also chair of the Law Society’s Human Rights and Equality Committee, took seven years to complete his research, which examines parole in Ireland.

He balanced his studies with numerous other commitments, such as membership of the Law Society’s Council, membership of the Parole Board, running a busy practice, not to mention his family responsibilities towards his wife and four children

Process

The doctoral paper, entitled Balancing Justice and Risk, examined how parole decisions are reached, and how the views of various stakeholders, including offenders and victims, are considered in the process.

The thesis also involved an overview of the sentencing process. The major focus, however, concerned risk – its meaning and how it is calculated, and above all, the impact that the assessment of risk has on the parole process.

All-consuming

Shane described the work involved as all-consuming, but says he was lucky to have a huge interest in the topic.

“The biggest task was not in writing the thesis, but in applying the appropriate discipline required to keep the whole research project on track,” he told Gazette.ie.

“I think everyone who has written something like this finds that they discard more than makes the final cut, and I found this a fascinating process.”

Advice

He would encourage anyone interested in taking up doctoral studies: “I would put a number of caveats on this piece of advice, however.

"The area that someone is researching must, to the greatest extent possible, be an almost self-contained, distinct area. The student has to be fully enthusiastic, because it does become extremely repetitive.

Making time

“Above all, they must commit to making time to do it – I found that the easiest thing to do when under pressure was to leave the PhD aside for a while, because there always seemed to be something more urgent to do!”