A group of eight Blackhall Place trainee solicitors are preparing to climb the highest mountain in Africa – Kilimanjaro.
Their goal is to raise funds for and awareness of the Ballymun Community Law Centre (BCLC), which works to ensure that access to justice is available to all who need it.
The trainees are aiming to raise €10,000 to equip BCLC with the necessary resources to provide legal services to the community and safeguard its ongoing commitments.
One of the trainees behind the project, Matthew Mulrooney of RDJ LLP, describes the €10,000 target as “ambitious”, but the amount raised or pledged so far has already topped the €7,000 mark.
‘Passion project’
The trainees fly out on 4 August, and will begin their seven-day trek on 7 August, with the push for the summit starting at midnight on the sixth day.
Mulrooney, who wrote about the socio-economic barriers to access to justice during his undergraduate degree, describes the climb as a “passion project”.
His interest in BCLC was sparked by a lecture from the centre's board member Gary Lee during the early stages of the Professional Practice Course.
Mulrooney believes the work of organisations such as BCLC is important, as community law centres are in “a unique position to build a relationship of trust between the legal profession and the lay person”.
Awareness
The group is a mix of experienced hikers and people who are relatively new to the activity. Mulrooney says that they are “appropriately nervous” ahead of the trip.
“We are reasonably fit, but we don’t have any experience with altitude,” he says.
“In the end it is all about the awareness we raise; climbing the roof of Africa is just the bonus,” he adds.
Those taking part are:
- Matthew Mulrooney (RDJ LLP),
- Eoghan Davis (Oiger),
- Sophie Walsh (A&L Goodbody),
- Dylan Byrne (Matheson),
- Oliver Dunne (Addleshaw Goddard),
- Fearghal Ryan (Addleshaw Goddard),
- Hamzza Khosa (McKeever Rowan), and
- Daniel Donoghue (McCann Fitzgerald).
Donations are being collected at: https://gofund.me/ff20238a.