Former student donates €1m to UCC School of Law

Mr Synnott is currently a partner at New York-based firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.

According to Rob Donelson - Executive Director, Alumni and Development at UCC - the donation is the "largest ever by a UCC Law graduate".

The "generous gift" will fund the Synnott Family Chair in EU Law, which UCC say will "lead the university’s initiatives to maximise research opportunities in EU Law in Ireland and beyond and will help to develop opportunities for Law graduates in the EU institutions, and in Europe more generally."

The Synnott Family Chair in EU Law will provide "substantial academic leadership" within the college and "will advance the profile of the university as the leader of EU law research and education in Ireland".

Professor Ursula Kilkelly, UCC's Head of the College of Business and Law, thanked Mr Synnott for his "generous philanthropic gift".

She said: "This donation will help realise the University’s ambition for the School of Law, enhancing the School’s international reputation in the research and teaching of EU law to the benefit of our students and to law and society more generally."

Professor Mark Poustie, Dean of the School of Law, said the money will enable the college to "maximise interdisciplinary EU research opportunities within the University".

He added that the Synnott Family Chair in EU Law "will lead the development of a world-class research centre and develop a strong postgraduate research cohort in the area of EU law.

With Brexit and other significant challenges in the EU, this is a timely development.

Mr Donelson said: "Philanthropy has the power to enable education: education transforms people’s lives."

He said the donation "will positively impact students by ensuring that UCC’s academic programmes are informed by the leading scholarship in this critically-important field".