September update – New infographics available; Stronger beginning this month; review of Michael Inside published
Infographics on restorative justice in Ireland published
We are very grateful to the Department of Justice’s Service Design and Customer Insights team for working with us to develop and produce two new infographics on restorative justice. They did a really excellent job with these, and I am happy to say that everyone among the Stakeholder Group is free to download these and to use them however they would like. Let us know what you think!
Stronger tickets and webinar at the Dublin Theatre Festival
As we reported last month, the restorative justice-themed play Stronger, inspired by true events in which a teacher seeks restorative justice following a sexual assault by her student, will soon be on at the Dublin Theatre Festival. Ursula, Tim and I will all participate in a webinar on Thursday 7th October at 4pm, alongside panelists from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, the playwright himself, and others. You can sign up to the webinar here, and book tickets for the play (30th Sep-9th Oct at Smock Alley Theatre) by clicking here.
If you are going to the play and would like to write a review for www.restorativejustice.ie, please get in touch! Similarly, if there is another topic about which you would like to write for our blog, let me know.
New blog – review of Michael Inside
This brings me to our latest blog, a review of the fantastic Irish film Michael Inside. The review, written by Jenny Finlay, Katrina Mendham and Andrea Pownall (Research Assistants, Maynooth Department of Law) reflects on the implications of punitive responses to young adult and drug offending as portrayed in the film, and considers how restorative justice could have helped meet the characters’ needs. You can read the review here.
Other events and items of possible interest
- Le Chéile’s annual report for 2020 is now published, providing details of its restorative justice activities last year.
- Trilateral Research, commissioned by the Policing Authority to study victims’ experiences with An Garda Síochána, are seeking survey and interview participants. Their interim report was published in October 2020.
- The Drogheda Report Implementation Plan reflects on the role of probation and schools in taking a restorative approach to their work locally.
- A new podcast series Peace by Piece features stories and insights from peace activists in Northern Ireland. Recent interviewees included David Eagleson, who spoke about implementing post-sentence restorative justice and restorative practices in prisons, and Debbie Watters, who spoke about her background in peacebuilding and her work with NI Alternatives.
- A recent Guardian article provides an excellent first-person account of someone who participated in restorative justice following a violent psychotic episode – find the article here.
- Speakers at a recent webinar by the Mint House in Oxford described the process and outcomes of implementing restorative practices within an English prison – you can watch the recorded webinar here.
- Also across the water, the All-Party Parliamentary group on Restorative Justice just published the final report from its recent inquiry, outlining nine recommendations to develop restorative justice in England and Wales.
- The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has a vacancy for a Client Support Officer – the deadline to apply is October 15th.