Bláithín O'Shea is a 3rd year PhD student in the School of Law. She is a graduate of UL (LLB, 2017) and UCD (LLM, 2019). In September 2019, under the supervision of Dr Susan Leahy and Dr Alan Cusack, she began her doctoral studies in UL. 

Bláithín PhD takes a socio-legal approach to investigate whether the principle of prison as a last resort (i.e. reducing imprisonment through use of diversion programmes and non-custodial sanctions) would be appropriate for persons with intellectual disabilities.

The aim of this research is to formulate recommendations to promote changes in policy and practice that will bolster the rights and outcomes for persons with intellectual disabilities in the Irish criminal justice system.