Dr Seamus Byrne is a Reader in Law at Manchester Law School. He is currently the Faculty Lead for the Faculty of Business and Law for the Institute for Children’s Futures at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is also Manchester Law School’s joint-lead for research impact. Prior to joining the Law School, Seamus held positions at Leeds Beckett University, the University of Liverpool, and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. Seamus is also a qualified Barrister-at-Law, having been called to the Irish Bar in 2009. From 2009 - 2014, Seamus practiced law full time in the areas of general civil, criminal, and family law. Seamus’s research expertise fall into two distinct areas; children’s rights law on the one hand, and the interface of sport and human rights law on the other. In relation to the former, Seamus is particularly interested in children’s socio-economic rights, including the right to education, and the law surrounding children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). With regards to the latter, Seamus is interested in the overlap of sport mega-event governance and human rights law, especially it’s impact on children’s rights. Further to this, his research interrogates the protection of children’s rights law within sport-mega event governance, the legal regulation of fan safety at sports events, and the wider interdisciplinary debates around the rights to play and leisure. Seamus is also an Associate Editor of Child Abuse Review, the official journal of the Association of Child Protection Professionals, published by Wiley. In 2020, Seamus was appointed by the Chief Executive of Liverpool City Council to join the newly established Education Improvement Board (EIB). The aim of the Board is to develop, promote, and sustain the Education Improvement Plan for Liverpool so that all children and young people in the Liverpool area have access to good quality education. The Board ensures that there is a coherent oversight and leadership of education through collaborative strategic leadership, scrutiny, challenge and coordinated activity between partners and all relevant stakeholders at local government level. Seamus has considerable teaching experience and has previously taught Children’s Rights Debates, English Legal Systems, Contact Law, Company Law, Applied Company Law, Commercial Law, Advocacy and Legal & Employability Skills. Having also previously coordinated work placement modules, Seamus has a keen interest in experiential learning and the development of wider employability skills among the student body.