His legal studies may have been interrupted by some high-profile court appearances over the past three years, but yesterday Ian Bailey showed no signs of disruption when he collected his third law qualification at University College Cork.
The 56-year-old former journalist was awarded an LLM or Masters of Law to add to the BCL and LLB degrees he has obtained at UCC since becoming a mature student in 2007.
Some 454 graduates received master degrees yesterday and Mr Bailey was first up to receive his parchment from UCC president Dr Michael Murphy at the ceremony.
Mr Bailey’s LLM was done by assessment and involved writing a 12,500-word thesis.
“The thesis was to be 12,500 words long but in my case, it came out at 25,000 words on police accountability. In it, I compared the old system here of the Garda complaints board with the new Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission,” he said.
He is currently contemplating offers from two universities to study for a PhD.
Last year, Mr Bailey won a Supreme Court appeal against a High Court decision to extradite him to France where he is wanted in connection with the murder of French film producer, Sophie Toscan du Plantier in West Cork in December 1996.
Mr Bailey, who was twice arrested for questioning about the killing but has always denied any involvement in it, is currently taking a civil action for damages against the State for wrongful arrest.
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