Northern Ireland

Provides a listing of articles on restorative justice developments in Northern Ireland. Articles appear in the order in which they were added to the site with the most recent appearing first.

Restorative approaches in local conflicts of Northern Ireland

rom the report by Tim Chapman, Derick Wilson and Hugh Campbell for ALTERNATIVE: ….While many people in Northern Ireland encounter each other through their employment, through shopping and through their social life, most people live in neighbourhoods that are predominantly made up of Protestants or Catholics. The many community relations projects throughout the country offer opportunities for people of different identities to meet and share their experiences. These are voluntary programmes and may not attract those most antagonistic towards the „other‟ and most engaged in violence. Those who are arrested for violence or hate crime will be dealt with by the criminal justice system and are unlikely to engage with their victims unless they are under the age of 18 or are referred to a community based restorative project.

Scheme 'cuts youth reoffending'

from the article in the Independent: Youth reoffending levels dropped dramatically when alternatives to prison were used in Northern Ireland, MPs have been told. Two-thirds of those released from custody committed further offences within a year, compared with under a third receiving a form of restorative justice sanction known as youth conferencing, Youth Justice Agency (YJA) figures showed.

Ford launches restorative justice guide for young people

from the article on Northern Ireland Executive: Justice Minister David Ford has launched an innovative new guide to restorative justice for young people. The booklet entitled “Restorative Justice - a guide for young people” was produced by the Youth Justice Agency in collaboration with the Restorative Justice Forum (NI). Launched during a Restorative Justice Forum seminar in Parliament Buildings, the child friendly guide uses a comic book format to explain how restorative justice can be used in a variety of settings including the youth conference.

A review of the Youth Justice System in Northern Ireland

from the report by the Department of Justice Northern Ireland: One of the most positive developments to have arisen out of Northern Ireland’s recent history is the expansion of rich and varied restorative practices. Restorative approaches have been used to respond to offending and anti-social behaviour, family disputes, disruptive behaviour in schools and children’s homes and in helping prisoners reintegrate back into their communities. Early teething problems have been largely overcome and professional practice in restorative justice in Northern Ireland is now internationally recognised.

UK riots and restorative justice: A Northern Ireland perspective

from Janis Irving's comment on Restorative Justice International: I am employed by the Youth Justice Agency of Northern Ireland as a youth conference co-ordinator. My job is to organise restorative conferences between young people (10-18) and victims. The conferences are 'ordered' by court or public prosecution (the latter means the young person does not recieve a criminal conviction if they work with the process). At the conference the victim, young person, family and community meet to discuss what happened and agree an action plan for the young person. The action plan then goes back to the court or prosecution for final agreement and if they agree the young person must carry it out or be returned to court.

Call for restorative justice review

from the article on UTV News: Schemes carried out by Community Restorative Justice Ireland need to be reviewed according to an independent report. A Criminal Justice Inspection report has revealed only one case has been referred by the community restorative justice system to police in Northern Ireland since 2007. ....The 19-page report, found despite four recommendations being fully achieved and one partially achieved, several issues remain to be addressed.

Victim's daughter meets IRA bomber: An interview with Jo Berry

by Lisa Rea On October 12, 1984 an IRA bomb planted by Patrick Magee demolished Brighton’s Grand Hotel in Brighton killing 5 people including Sir Anthony Berry, MP for Southgate and a member of the Thatcher government. The bomb hit on the last day of the conservative party conference held at the hotel. The IRA bomber Magee was sentenced to 35 years in prison. He was released after 14 years under the negotiated Good Friday agreement. The following is an interview Lisa Rea conducted with Jo Berry, daughter of Sir Anthony Berry. She did this interview from her home in Macclesfield UK. Jo Berry chose to meet with Pat Magee in November 2000. Today the two work together on many initiatives including addressing peace conferences, giving workshops in prisons, and speaking at universities. Q. How did the meetings happen? What was the process? Were you, and Pat, adequately prepared to meet? Walk us through what happened.

Promoting previously unthinkable ways

from the paper by Derek Wilson: Building a more restorative culture in society is to: build a new practice that works critically and reflectively within existing traditions and institutions; enable people to transgress traditional boundaries and meet; support existing organisations re-envision their role in the light of a new and agreed political dispensation; and set free initiatives that are transformative because of their inclusive structures or the focus of their work. ....An initial question before reading this is “what are we restoring to?”

Wilson, D. A. (2010). Promoting previously unthinkable ways -- Some restorative learning tasks in Northern Ireland. Paper prepared for ESRC Core Group on Restorative Approaches in Schools, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, June 2010.

The restorative task in Northern Ireland is deeply entwined with civic, public and political life and the extent to which we can acknowledge our violent past, permit ourselves to take risks, meet in a human manner and discount apparently rational reasons we have been given to distrust others. It is to transgress the historical boundaries of asymmetric relationships with state authority and the more recent conflicted history of deep mutual antagonism in our midst and let the reconciling part in each of us fly more freely, without being smothered by the politics of reason, important though politics is (See Wright, 1987, xi-xv). In Northern Ireland so many of one’s friends and significant others are members of one’s own cultural, political or religious traditions and the pressure on more newly arrived citizens is to follow this pattern also. These patterns, aligned with an historical ambivalence to violence that has excused ‘my violence as provoked’ but has rejected ‘your violence as ‘unacceptable’, now means that the restorative task is about opening people up to trust those they have previously seen as ‘the enemy’ and about establishing agreed public institutions that serve all equitably and new and agreed law and order structures that effectively criminalise violence and end any ambivalence about it. Restoring an openness to those previously seen as my enemy in an ethnic frontier area as well as an openness to those who are new citizens, demands that: citizenship, not group identity, is established as the primary point of identification; people find relationships and civic and political structures that enable all to deal more openly with the legacy of the past; core values are established at the heart of public and civic life about treating one another equitably, appreciating the diversity each brings and promoting our mutual interdependence (Eyben et al, 1997);and that public, civic and political society spaces empower people to create a more civil society. The restorative task is to empower the voices and actions of people of all ages who wish to take risks, equipping them with the knowledge that virulent circles of pessimism, avoidance, communal deterrence and local essentialism can be dissolved through building ease with different others, supporting people in making change a lasting reality and in promoting commitments between people and groups that establish and sustain ‘process-structures’ within the society that address “both the symptoms and causes of historic polarisation…support constructive change…and bring together strategic, often improbable, alliances’ (Lederach,2007)” The restorative task is not just one for children and young people but for all ages and institutions. The need for citizenship education for children and young people needs couched within a wider inter- generational commitment to see one another as equal citizens of one place and not primarily as members of opposed identity groups. Building a more restorative culture in society is to: build a new practice that works critically and reflectively within existing traditions and institutions; enable people to transgress traditional boundaries and meet; support existing organisations re-envision their role in the light of a new and agreed political dispensation; and set free initiatives that are transformative because of their inclusive structures or the focus of their work. There is a Madagascan image that eggs, once hatched, soar (Atran, 2010). Reconciliation practice over many years has been incubating relationships between unexpected people so that they, with others, can soar above distrust and fear. It is important that these relationships are now used in the practical task of restoring equity, promoting trust and securing agreed, commonly owned and non-partisan civic, public and political structures within which people of all ages can move more freely and at ease with different others. (author's abstract)

Why restorative justice fans trumpet Northern Ireland

from the entry by Bluecorps on Criminologist: The possible introduction of restorative justice in mainland Britain promises to spark a furious debate but in Northern Ireland they wonder what the fuss is all about. It has been a mainstream feature of the youth justice there for seven years. Three quarters of victims choose to meet the young offender face to face and victim satisfaction rates stand at 90 per cent, according to the Northern Ireland Justice Ministry.

Wilson, D. A. (2009). Platforms for a restorative society in Northern Ireland. University of Ulster.

This text argues that promoting restorative practices – through actions that remedy wrongs, actions that bring people who have been estranged into relationships, new ways of working and new structural arrangements – is a practical way of building platforms of reconciliation practice and a restorative culture in daily life in Northern Ireland.

Platforms for a restorative society in Northern Ireland

from the abstract of a concept paper by Dr. Derek Wilson: Reconciliation has been an important concept in building relationships and structures in Northern Ireland that lessen the harm done to people in the midst of conflict. It is also an important concept in the language of Track One, Two and Three conflict transformation strategies. Central to reconciliation is the promotion of right relationships and the securing of agreements and structural arrangements that build a new acknowledgement and respect between those seen as ‘different others’. Such work seeks to right previous imbalances and wrongs. Important elements of that agenda in Northern Ireland include the drive for legal remedies and new laws on equality, good relations, human rights, harassment and hate crime, and the exploration of how the past is acknowledged and how victims are respected and remembered. As a transcending idea, reconciliation continually challenges current ways of living with different and previously estranged others. However, it is a concept that many men and women have difficulty applying to their own actions. There is a tendency to see it as an activity for others in important positions, rather than as something all citizens must contribute to as part of their daily endeavours.

Ireland: restorative justice & juveniles

Thank you for this piece including the report from the Prison Reform Trust and also the BBC story link. This is good news. We can [...]

More on restorative youth justice in Northern Ireland

We received a note from Martin Wright with these additional thoughts on the report from Northern Ireland that was released last week: Northern Ireland seems to be going well, with only three reservations: 1. juveniles only 2. run by the state -- not much community ownership 3. and putting pressure on the community-based programmes (which Harry Mika and Kieran McEvoy have written about) by competing for funding and referrals -- rather like WalMart putting small shopkeepers out of business!

Making amends: restorative youth justice in Northern Ireland

On 29 October 2009, the Prison Reform Trust published a report on the development and effectiveness of Northern Ireland's Youth Conference Service.

Justice group welcome

from Saoirse32: A Unionist councillor has welcomed news that a community restorative justice scheme in Newry and south Armagh has received official government status. The CRJ scheme, based in Mullaghbawn, received government accreditation on Thursday following an inspection by Criminal Justice Inspection NI (CJI). The inspection reported that the UN principles on Restorative Justice were being observed by the organisation and that senior police officers working in Newry and south Armagh indicated that a relationship which held promise for the future is developing.

Thinking Aloud programme on restorative justice in Northern Ireland

from the Thinking Aloud website at BBC: What is the best way to settle a dispute, and if you are a victim of crime what is the best way to get justice? Laurie Taylor finds out about an alternative to police and courts and the conventional criminal justice system. The idea of restorative justice is to try to find a new way to settle arguments and bring justice so that offenders and victims can carry on living side by side. Can bringing victims and culprits together to talk or making a guilty party compensate the injured one provide the answer? And can it work for all crimes, however serious? Laurie talks to Anna Eriksson and Heather Strang about the use of restorative justice in Northern Ireland. For countries with a long history of violence in their communities, can restorative justice be used to heal the wounds?

Gormally, Brian. Conversion from War to Peace: Reintegration of Ex-prisoners in Northern Ireland

The concept of "conversion" relates to the transition from violent conflict to peace and the consequent change of use of economic and social resources and change of vocation of former combatants. This brief overview of the measures used in Northern Ireland to release and reintegrate ex-prisoners and, more generally, to open up opportunities for peaceful activities by former non-state combatants, [... also examines] how they relate to the dynamics of the peace process as a whole. (excerpt)

Healing Through Remembering Project. The Report of the Healing Through Remembering Project. June 2002.

In the late 1990s Victim Support Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders jointly began a process that led to the establishment of the Healing Through Remembering Project in the fall of 2001. The primary purpose of the Healing Through Remembering Project was to identify and document possible mechanisms and options for how remembering should occur so that healing could take place for all people affected by the conflict in Northern Ireland. The project was based on the view that addressing the past through remembering – while a complex, difficult, and long-term task – is an important part of social and psychological healing in the context of conflict. Toward this end, the Project solicited submissions by individuals and organizations to provide a wide range of opinions and insights into remembering processes that could help to deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict. This report on the Project’s work includes the following: an executive summary; background to the Project; the Project’s method and context; types of remembering processes; recommendations based on the work of the Project; and a number of relevant appendices.

Duffy, Aoife. A truth commission for Northern Ireland?

A report published by the Consultative Group on the Past (Consultative Group) in January 2009 recommended that a ‘Legacy Commission’ be established for Northern Ireland that would fulfil a reconciliation, truth-recovery and justice mandate. The work of the Consultative Group highlights how international justice norms are interpreted at a local level in a way that takes account of local histories and priorities. This article critically examines the proposed Legacy Commission and finds that the framework outlined by the Consultative Group does not sufficiently challenge discourses of violence that hinder the bedding down of positive peace in Northern Ireland. Universal human rights and justice concepts remain peripheral to this framework, which avoids the type of profound conflict analysis that might advance societal stability and harmony. Instead of challenging the structural and institutional inequalities that underpinned the violence of the conflict in Northern Ireland and opening up new pathways to accessing truth and justice, the Consultative Group's report advocates a truth-recovery process that is not open to public scrutiny and is couched in the language of forgetting, which begs the question whether this is a genuine attempt to explore sidelined or dissenting narratives of conflict, or merely another forum in which to contain them. (author's abstract)