Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh: from Mayo to French boarding school - the Irish barrister’s path to ICJ

London-based human rights barrister Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh captured public attention with her performance at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) when she made the closing arguments for South Africa’s case that the bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces over the last three months has amounted to genocide.

Her closing speech, in French and English, has millions of views on YouTube.

The unusual name was a source of conversation at home and abroad. Blinne is a derivative of Bláthnaid (flower), and Ms Ní Ghrálaigh’s surname is the Gaelicised version of the name Grealy, according to her first cousin Freda Grealy.

Ms Ní Ghrálaigh was born in Ireland and spent her early years living in north Mayo. The family homestead is in Glencalry, between Crossmolina and Belmullet.

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With her mother and sister, she moved to Holloway, north London, where her mother eventually became deputy head teacher of Tufnell Park Primary School.

Freda Grealy said her mother Neasa brought up both of her daughters to be “strong and determined”, with a sense of social justice. “Her mother was a big role model and her greatest supporter.”

The family had a typical London-Irish experience, spending many of their summers in Ireland.

Neasa was brought up in Dublin, but retained her roots in north Mayo and was buried there when she died in 2011.

Ms Ní Ghrálaigh can speak Irish, though she would not have learned it in school in England. She was immersed in Irish dancing and music, but spent her teenage years at boarding school in France – hence her ability to deliver the start of her speech at the Hague in perfect French.

“She was socialised at an early enough age about politics, Irish history and the Troubles, social justice and human rights,” Freya Grealy said.

Her mother would have made her aware of London-Irish people in places such as Camden who had fallen on hard times. Such formative experiences motivated Ms Ní Ghrálaigh to become a lawyer.

[ ‘This is no genocide’: Israel calls South Africa’s charges on Gaza war ‘grossly distorted’ ]

“We are hugely proud of her. I have got messages from people asking me, ‘Is that your cousin?’ She makes us proud to be Irish,” said Ms Grealy.

“She did a superb job. Her delivery was excellent. She retained her composure, but there was still emotion there. She gave some hope in terms of what decision might be made by the court.

“At least the world is listening. She spoke for a lot of people who don’t have a voice. She said what a lot of people can’t say.”

Ms Ní Ghrálaigh graduated first from Queens’ College, Cambridge, and holds degrees and diplomas from New York University and the London School of Economics.

She has been with Matrix, a barristers’ chambers with offices in London, Brussels and Geneva, since undertaking her pupillage there in 2005. She practises law across human rights, public international law, criminal law and public law. She acts for individuals, states and NGOs, appearing before courts as well as tribunals.

Before pursuing her legal career, she worked on the Bloody Sunday Inquiry for the legal team representing the wounded and the families of those killed, and for a civil action law specialist solicitors’ firm in London.

Previous cases she has worked on include an appeal brought by the “Hooded Men” group to secure an investigation into UK ministerial authorisation for their torture in the early 1970s.

Ms Grealy said a lot of her cousin’s work is carried out “pro bono” and she could make a lot more money in another field of law, but chose to take on causes such as the Colston Four, perhaps up to now her most famous case.

The Colston Four were eventually acquitted of causing criminal damage arising out of the toppling of a statue of notorious slave owner Edward Colston into Bristol harbour in 2020 during a Black Lives Matter protest.

The family’s interest in the situation in Palestine is long-standing. When Ms Ní Ghrálaigh’s mother died, the family asked that a donation in lieu of flowers be made to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

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