[1] She received a master's degree from Cambridge University and a doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin.
As well as lecturing, she works as a consultant in Environmental, Planning and Climate Change Law at the Arthur Cox law firm in Dublin, a post that she has held since April 1990.
[1] She is also currently a director on the boards of Tara Mines, Coillte and CIE[1] She has written the leading textbook in Ireland on that subject.
She received the Spirit of Columbus Award for her Contribution to the Environment in 1994 and was the Francis E Lewis scholar at the Washington and Lee University School of Law, in Virginia, USA in 1996.
[3] She campaigned with her fellow professor Ivana Bacik against the proposed amendment to the Irish Constitution in 2002 which would have removed suicide as a grounds for abortion.