Maynooth Student Wins Coveted Internship
14th September 2016

Gbemisola Fowora (pictured), from Louth, is one of two Maynooth University students,who won the title of Matheson Funds Law Intern 2016.
Gbemisola and classmate Wayne Flanagan earned their awards for the high calibre of their work produced as part of the University’s master’s degree module in investment funds law, which is entirely taught at the offices of Matheson, combined with a competitive interview process.
Matheson first partnered with Maynooth University in 2013 to create Ireland’s first and only specialised funds law course to be taught at university level. Liz Grace, a Partner at Matheson, wrote and created the course.
Liz Grace said: “The Funds Law course is a direct response to an increased demand for transferring specialist legal and industry knowledge to our third level graduates. By looking beyond the traditional law curriculum and focusing on areas central to Ireland’s economic development, we are providing financial services companies establishing in Ireland with the essential expertise they require from Irish graduates when operating in a complex and regulated area.”
“We know that a skilled workforce is a key factor for international companies considering locating in Ireland. Equipping graduates with specialist skills is essential to Ireland’s success in continuing to attract foreign direct investment and, of course, hand in hand with that is the generation of exciting employment opportunities at home for our talented graduates,” she said.
Two-thirds of the Funds Law class were female this year. “This is by far the highest female to male ratio we have had on the course to date,” Ms Grace noted. “This is significant”, she added, “and, moving forward, increasing the number of female-led financial services courses is important, if we are to help to progress beyond the cliché that finance and financial services are typically male fields. Having a diverse pool of experts mentoring and equipping our graduates for moving forward successfully beyond the campus and into their careers is essential if we are to establish gender diversity as a competitive advantage for the Irish international financial services sector.”