Our Immigration Law team has extensive knowledge on all matters of immigration. This includes experience in asylum, EEA Regulations, EU Settlement scheme and family rights, the Immigration Rules, trafficking claims, corporate immigration, LGBT asylum claims, extradition and human rights applications. Immigration law is a challenging and dynamic area of law, crossing over into criminal law, family law, international law, European law, and public law.
We have previously acted for unaccompanied child asylum seekers who have come to the UK to seek protection, and ensuring that the Home Office act according to their domestic and international duties as a public body. We have specific expertise and experience in challenging Home Office decision-making by way of appeal and judicial review. Members of our team have acted in some of the most complex extradition and deportation claims in the jurisdictions of Ireland and the UK arising out of the threat of torture and the death penalty. We have appeared at all levels, including the European Court of Justice in which we recently represented the London based NGO the Aire Centre in the seminal case of Bajarati v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] ECR 1. At present, we have been retained to advise STEP in Dungannon, Ireland’s largest NGO concerned with advancing the rights of minorities living in Northern Ireland, on the current regulations pertaining to Immigration Law and in preparation for the precarious legal environment created with Brexit looming.
Sinead Marmion
Peter Corrigan
Clíodhna Hardy
Solicitor
Sinead Marmion
Sinead is a solicitor with expertise in dealing with asylum and immigration cases. She has an LLM in Human Rights Law at Queen’s University Belfast and is fluent in French.
Sinead has built up an expertise in immigration and asylum work, with particular specialism in children’s claims. She works closely with Barnardo’s Independent Guardian Service in dealing with cases for unaccompanied minors. Sinead also works with victims of trafficking and modern slavery and works closely with Flourish NI.
Sinead is also retained by South Tyrone Empowerment Programme (STEP), which is Northern Ireland’s largest migrant organisation run by veteran civil rights activist, Bernadette McAliskey. Through her work with STEP, Sinead advises on complex cases involving Europeans and their family members applying to the European Settlement Scheme.
Sinead has experience in a wide range of immigration related matters including; entry clearance, family reunion, spouse and fiancé visas, family visas, European Economic Area (EEA), visit visas, and settlement and naturalisation applications.
Sinead obtains instruction from clients who are in detention in Larne House Detention Centre, often facing removal and deportation. This can lead to bail applications, asylum claims, judicial review, urgent injunctions, and unlawful detention claims.
She has represented clients at the First tier Tribunal, Upper Tribunal, and Asylum Support Tribunal. This includes successful challenges to refusals of asylum in LGBT cases, political persecution cases and religious persecution cases. She has also had successes in challenging refusals of granting of residence cards by the Home Office on derivative rights of residence cases through the Zambrano route. Sinead has also represented clients who have faced destitution due to unlawful refusals to grant asylum support through representation at the Asylum Support Tribunal.
Beyond tribunal representation, Sinead has challenged decisions by public bodies by way of judicial review and appeals to the Court of Appeal.
Sinead also provides legal support on family and criminal defence cases arising from her immigration work. More recently she has expanded into employment rights for workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Memberships
Sinead has assisted on setting up the first Northern Ireland regional working group for the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA).
She is also a committee member of the Law Society’s Immigration Practitioners’ Group, having held the position of secretary in the 2019-2020 term.
Sinead has responsibility of Phoenix Law’s charity committee together with Harry Robinson.
Legal Executive
Clíodhna Hardy
Clíodhna Hardy is a legal executive in the criminal defence and regulatory department. Clíodhna is an important member of the criminal defence team having been involved in serious and complex trials across a number of jurisdictions, including Dublin and Belfast. Clíodhna has acquired particular expertise in Extradition having advised on proposed extraditions to other jurisdictions which involved potential breaches of human rights.
Clíodhna advises both individuals and organisations regarding their right to protest and has recently been involved in the defence of high profile prosecutions of the Extinction Rebellion and Animal Rebellion protestors.
Criminal Defence:
- Extinction Rebellion (District Court, Dublin)
- Animal Rebellion (District Court, Dublin)
- DPP v Anthony Stokes (District Court, Dublin)
- DPP v Lisa Smith (Special Criminal Court, Dublin)
- R v Gerard Lagan (Double Murder – Belfast Crown Court)
- R v Jake O’Brien (Murder – Belfast Crown Court)
- Operation Arbacia (High profile prosecution involving offences including Directing Terrorism – ongoing)
Email:cliodhna@phoenix-law.org