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.

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.

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?

Eriksson, Anna. A Bottom-Up Approach to Transformative Justice in Northern Ireland.

This article explores community-based restorative justice projects run by political ex-prisoners and former combatants in Northern Ireland, initiatives which are dealing with everyday crime and conflict in local communities in a period of transition. It is argued that restorative justice can act as a facilitator, both for individuals within the community and between communities and the state, when violence-supporting norms are expected to be replaced by nonviolent approaches to conflict and its resolution. The article also argues for a greater role for criminological approaches to crime, punishment and justice within transitions, recognising the strengths of criminology to address underlying causes of continued violence in postconflict settings. In particular, this article investigates attempts by these initiatives to build bridges between historically estranged communities and the police, and argues for the possibility of restorative justice becoming a catalyst for transformative justice during times of rapid social change. (author's abstract)

Harry Mika. COMMUNITY-BASED PEACEBUILDING:A CASE STUDY FROM NORTHERN IRELAND1

Drawing upon a careful assessment of community efforts to reduce paramilitary punishment violence in Loyalist and Republican working class areas of Northern Ireland, this paper explores the impact of former combatants as agents of the peace process. Conventional terrorist, peacekeeping (DDR), and transitional justice discourses largely discount even the possibility of a competing model of justice ‘from below,’ an orientation that seeks to leverage ‘local’ stakes in reconciliation, regeneration, development and sustainable peace. Findings of a multiyear evaluation of community-based restorative justice innovation are reviewed, involving the active participation and leadership of ex-combatants and the cooperation of paramilitary formations.

McEvoy, Kieran. Re-imagining DDR Ex-combatants, leadership and moral agency in conflict transformation

Drawing upon criminological studies in the field of prisoner rehabilitation, this essay explores the relevance of the Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) framework to the process of conflict transformation in Northern Ireland. In a similar fashion to the critique of ‘passivity’ offered by, for example, the ‘strengths based’ or ‘good lives’ approach to prisoner resettlement and reintegration more generally, the authors contend that the Northern Ireland peace process offers conspicuous examples of former prisoners and combatants as agents and indeed leaders in the process of conflict transformation. They draw out three broad styles of leadership which have emerged amongst ex-combatants over the course of the Northern Ireland transition from conflict—political, military and communal. They suggest that cumulatively such leadership speaks to the potential of ex-prisoners and ex-combatants as moral agents in conflict transformation around which peacemaking can be constructed rather than as obstacles which must be ‘managed’ out of existence. (author's abstract)

McEvoy, Kieran. Re-imagining DDR.

Drawing upon criminological studies in the field of prisoner rehabilitation, this essay explores the relevance of the Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) framework to the process of conflict transformation in Northern Ireland. In a similar fashion to the critique of `passivity' offered by, for example, the `strengths based' or `good lives' approach to prisoner resettlement and reintegration more generally, the authors contend that the Northern Ireland peace process offers conspicuous examples of former prisoners and combatants as agents and indeed leaders in the process of conflict transformation. They draw out three broad styles of leadership which have emerged amongst ex-combatants over the course of the Northern Ireland transition from conflict— political, military and communal. They suggest that cumulatively such leadership speaks to the potential of ex-prisoners and ex-combatants as moral agents in conflict transformation around which peacemaking can be constructed rather than as obstacles which must be `managed' out of existence. (author's abstract)

Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland. Youth Conference Service. Inspection of the Youth Conference Service in Northern Ireland.

This inspection looked at how young offenders are dealt with through the Youth Conference Service (YCS). It followed on from a comprehensive evaluation of the service conducted early in its development by Queens University Belfast (QUB)1. It assessed the service in terms of the CJI inspection framework at a point in time when the service was receiving on average around 2000 referrals a year. Inspectors found that the YCS was delivering an effective and useful service but that it was operating at the boundary of its capacity under its present structures and resources. Staff and management were totally committed to providing a restorative system that worked for the young offenders as well as for victims and they were focused on getting the balance right between the needs of offenders and victims. The key recommendation of this Inspection is that a full system-wide review into current practices in youth offending is now needed with the aim of developing a clearer and more integrated system with restorative practice at its core. (excerpt)

Lundy, Patricia and McGovern, Mark. A Trojan Horse? Unionism, Trust and Truth-telling in Northern Ireland.

The aim of this article is to examine the relationship between trust, testimony and truth recovery processes as part of post-conflict transition. The paper uses the case study of unionist attitudes toward a community-based truth-telling project in Northern Ireland to demonstrate the impact an absence of trust can have upon what the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur has described as the ‘space of controversy’ that emerges between the ‘certification’ and the ‘accreditation’ of testimony. The paper suggests such distrust is a legacy, not only of conflict, but also of the particular circumstances of transition and the specific mechanisms of truth recovery adopted. Ultimately the paper argues for a holistic, community-centred approach towards truth-telling and raises issues relevant to other violently divided societies undergoing transition and grappling with ways in which to deal with the legacy of political conflict. (author's abstract)

Monaghan, Rachel. Community-Based Justice in Northern Ireland and South Africa.

South Africa and Northern Ireland have experienced bitter ethnonational conflicts in which the transition to a peaceful political settlement has been characterized by crime and violence. In the case of Northern Ireland, this transition is still ongoing. This article examines the alternative policing and informal justice mechanisms, which have developed in the townships of South Africa and within the working-class districts of Northern Ireland. These mechanisms offer the inhabitants of such areas instant redress and retributive justice. This article is also concerned with the community-based restorative justice projects, which have been established in certain areas within both countries and examines whether such projects have an impact on vigilante attacks in South Africa and paramilitary "punishments" in Northern Ireland. (author's abstract)