Blog
New Private Members’ Bill seeks to promote referrals to restorative justice
Dr. Ian Marder Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology This week, Pa Daly TD, Patricia Ryan TD and Maurice Quinlivan TD moved to introduce a Private Members’ Bill to amend the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017 to promote referrals to restorative...
ALL YOUR FACES – Review by Natalie Kemmy
ALL YOUR FACES – Review Natalie Kemmy MA in Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice, Maynooth University "ALL YOUR FACES" is a French film released in 2023, directed by Jeanne Henry and shown in Dublin in November at the Irish Film Institute as part of its French...
Restorative Practices Ireland’s National Conference on 25 November represents a milestone in Irish restorative practice development
Dr. Kieran O’Dwyer Chair, Restorative Practices Ireland On Saturday 25 November, Newbridge College will host a one-day conference, bringing together those with expertise, experience and interest in restorative practices (RP) from across Ireland. The overall themes of...
The Department of Justice commits to new restorative justice funding, but gaps will likely remain
Dr. Ian D. Marder Maynooth University, School of Law and Criminology On 8th August 2023, the Department of Justice published a new policy paper on restorative justice. This meets a commitment set out in the Justice Plan 2021 to publish policy proposals, based on the...
New data suggests fewer restorative justice referrals in 2022 than in 2019
Dr. Ian D. Marder Maynooth University, School of Law and Criminology Following our mapping exercises of restorative justice in Ireland in 2019 and 2020, we are pleased to publish a third dataset, covering the 2021 and 2022 calendar years. The new data provide a...
Guest Blog: The Economic Case for Restorative Justice
Lucy Harris - Why me? Economic Evaluation of Restorative Justice project Restorative justice (RJ) has the power to change the lives of all those affected by crime. Why me?’s ambassador stories are powerful examples of its impact on individuals. To promote...
Building understanding between Gardaí and young Black adults in Blanchardstown: a briefing on the UBUNTU Project following Phase 2 (the dialogue process)
Dr. Ian D. Marder, Assistant Professor in Criminology, Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology Katharina Kurz, Research Assistant, Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology...
An analysis of restorative justice in the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024
Dr. Ian D. Marder Assistant Professor in Criminology, Maynooth University On 31 August 2022, the Minister for Justice announced that the Government agreed to publish the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024 – the Penal Policy Review. The...
Getting excited about data on restorative justice: the need for standardisation
Dr. Kieran O’Dwyer Independent RP Trainer and Facilitator, former RJS4C Core Member Not everyone gets excited about data and definitions. But the devil is always in the detail and we need to be clear on our definitions, if we want to interpret data correctly. The...
My journey to becoming a Restorative Justice Project Officer with Le Chéile
Simon Keating Restorative Justice Project Officer, Le Chéile Mentoring My journey to becoming a Restorative Justice Project Officer with Le Chéile began back in 2012. I was studying a programme in Applied Social Studies in Social Care as a mature student at Limerick...
New research suggests rising cases, mixed picture, for restorative justice in Ireland in 2020
Dr. Ian D. Marder Maynooth University, School of Law and Criminology In June 2022, Restorative Justice: Strategies for Change (RJS4C) published a second sweep of data as part of our mapping exercise on restorative justice in Irish criminal justice. The goal was to...
A While in the Making: An Adult Restorative Justice Strategy for Northern Ireland
Lisa Higgins Reducing Offending Directorate - Department of Justice, Northern Ireland The use of restorative approaches in Northern Ireland’s youth justice system has long been a great success. Until now, however, there has been no overarching strategic approach for...
How the Venice Declaration contributes to the international restorative justice framework
Dr. Ian D. Marder - Assistant Professor in Criminology, Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology Dr. Petra Masopust Šachová - Chairperson, Czech Institute for Restorative Justice The Venice Declaration – what happened? After announcing wide-ranging...
Stronger – Review by Dr. Fionnuala Brennan and Raphael O’Keefe
Stronger – Review by Dr. Fionnuala Brennan (Programme Leader, Higher Certificate in Custodial Care, Waterford Institute of Technology) and Raphael O’Keeffe (Assistant Governor, Wheatfield Prison) Theatre makes space for stories to be told and voices to be...
Helping victims achieve their restorative justice goals with different degrees of offender participation
Dr. Diana Batchelor Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Oxford Sometimes offenders don’t take full responsibility for the crimes they have committed. They may be unremorseful, unable to answer victims’ questions, or even entirely unwilling to participate in a...
Request for interviewees for a non-fiction publication about incarceration
David Monaghan - Writer & Journalist davidanthonymonaghan@gmail.com Please see below for a message from Irish journalist and writer David Monaghan, who is seeking persons with experience of incarceration and restorative justice that are willing to speak to him to...
Stronger – Review by Priyangee Guha
Stronger – A play that makes us re-evaluate the meaning of justice Stronger is written by Geoff Power and directed by Paul Meade. The play was showcased as part of Dublin Theatre Festival at the Smock Alley Theatre. Based on real-life events, it tells the story of a...
Michael Inside – Review
Michael Inside – Review Jenny Finlay, Katrina Mendham & Andrea Pownall Research Assistants, Maynooth University Department of Law Michael Inside is an eye-opening, stripped back drama that excellently portrays the ripple effects of drug criminalisation and the...
Stronger – Q&A with playwright Geoff Power
Stronger – Q&A with playwright Geoff Power Inspired by true events, Stronger tells the gripping story of Jan, a teacher who is sexually assaulted by her student. As Jan journeys through the legal system, she struggles to find closure and her life is in danger of...
Restorative justice and intimate partner violence – ACJRD Annual Conference, 2019
Dr. Ian Marder (Maynooth University) Callie Zinsmeyer (Restorative Justice Services) This article is adapted from an invited presentation given by the authors at the 22nd ACJRD Annual Conference in Dublin, October 2019. It will soon be published in the conference...
The Meeting – Review
The Meeting – Review Kate Duffy, Catriona Kenny & Grace Hughes MA in Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice, Maynooth University The Meeting is a powerful story based on true events, which we watched and discussed as part of our master’s module, LW687...
Making room for restorative practice and restoring ourselves during the pandemic
Making room for restorative practice and restoring ourselves during the pandemic Joe Power Limerick Restorative Practices Project Wherever your organisation is on its restorative journey, it has never been more important to mind our colleagues and ourselves than at...
The Need for Standards in Restorative Justice
Dr. Kieran O'Dwyer Independent Trainer and Facilitator Core Member, RJS4C Ireland Few would dispute that standards are required to ensure consistent quality of practice in restorative justice in Ireland. And few would suggest that those already providing services...
Let us not forget victim-initiated restorative justice or cases involving sexual crime
Dr. Marie Keenan Associate Professor, University College Dublin marie.keenan@ucd.ie I welcome the launch of the Restorative Justice: Strategies for Change (RJS4C) website and commend the team and the Department of Justice for developing this important resource. It...