A solicitor from Co Limerick is hoping to inspire other students from DEIS schools to consider a career in law.
Vanessa Blake, 29, qualified as a solicitor last year, but when she was in secondary school, she did not think a career in law "was an option for me" but was encouraged by her guidance counsellors to consider it.
"You assume the points are too high and the school you go to might not have had a lot of students that would've gone in that path. No one in my family would’ve done that degree so for me to be the first was very scary," she said.
Vanessa says she studied hard for her Leaving Cert, but did not get enough points to secure a place to study law - something she was "devastated" about. But everything changed when she realised there was a range of supports and grants available to her to help her achieve her goals.
"I went to a DEIS school and there are supports for schools like that which are considered to be situated in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. I got awarded the HEAR grant that allowed me to get the extra points I needed and then SUSI grants and access grants were available too. If I wasn't made aware of those supports, I wouldn't be sitting here."
Vanessa's training was also supported by the Law Society Access Programme, which has helped 236 solicitors to qualify since 2001.
A year on from qualifying, Vanessa was asked to speak at the Law Society's Solicitors of the Future programme which brought 40 transition year students to Blackhall Place in Dublin this week for work experience. Every year, 20% of the students in attendance are from DEIS schools.
"It's a privilege to come back and to speak here and I suppose it's just great to promote to the students the paths and supports that are out there," she said.
"Access programmes are great and coming from a DEIS school, clients might be surprised that you might live around the corner from them, or you went to the same school as their children. It breaks that barrier and creates a better rapport with them. It's so important to have a diversity of backgrounds in the law."
Watch the video to hear from Vanessa and some of the students who took part in the programme.
