RDJ announces scholarships in effort to impact ethnic diversity in legal profession

Ronan Daly Jermyn (RDJ) has today announced the provision of a number of scholarships for students studying law at University College Cork. In furtherance of the firm’s strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, preference will be given to students from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) Background.

Richard Martin, Managing Partner at RDJ said “for some considerable time, we have been absolutely committed at our firm to the widest possible meaning of diversity and inclusion in our profession. We are concerned at the very poor levels of ethnic diversity in our workplaces.” He continued, “These scholarships are about providing opportunity for people of ethnically diverse backgrounds as well as enriching our own workplaces by bringing these students into our firm. For us, this is a key part of the programme. It isn’t just the financial support that we are giving to these students but also our commitment to bringing these students into RDJ to work as interns during the course of their studies so they can not only learn from us but also help broaden the perspectives of our own team which comes from working closely with people from widely different backgrounds and traditions.. In recent times, diversity and inclusion has quite rightly shot to the top of the workplace agenda. At RDJ we celebrate and embrace difference. However, we believe that this has to go well beyond diversity policies and aspirations. This is why we are announcing these scholarships; it is about us trying to do something meaningful to encourage more ethnic diversity in the profession.”

The Ronan Daly Jermyn Diversity Scholarship, will provide successful students a scholarship of €5,000 as well as a work placement or internship with RDJ. The donation will be made over four years, commencing in the upcoming ‘21/’22 academic year, and will benefit two UCC undergraduate Law students each year. In order to be eligible for the scholarship, students must be from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) Background, registered on any BCL programme at UCC and achieve or expect to achieve at least a 2H1 average in their first year results in Law modules.

Eligible students are invited to submit an application form including a short personal statement of no more than 300 words and a 1,000-word essay discussing the topic, “The Need for Diversifying the Legal Profession in Ireland”. A shortlist of applicants will then be selected for interview, with the recipients chosen based on their interview, application form, academic results and the short essay.

For more info on eligibility criteria and how to apply visit here.

At RDJ we are committed to fostering an environment of diversity and inclusion through recruitment, career development, and ongoing outreach to the communities in which RDJ has a presence. The firm has been recognised by the Irish Centre for Diversity and awarded their Investors in Diversity Bronze Standard. We are one of only a few organisations in Ireland to have achieved this standard.