August update – Restorative practices in the Irish Prison Service College, becoming a Restorative Justice Project Officer, and Louise O’Neill in the Irish Times

We are grateful to the Irish Penal Reform Trust (here) and Irish Legal News (here) for featuring the second annual mapping exercise we published last month (see here for a summary of our findings).

New case study: restorative practices and the Irish Prison Service College

We are very grateful to the Irish Prison Service College for collaborating on a new case study. It describes the College’s new training segment on restorative practices for Recruit Prison Officers, their ongoing work to train College Tutors in RP, and their internal use of RP.

Read the case study here. We are seeking new case studies on the use of restorative justice or restorative practices in criminal justice settings, broadly defined. If you are interested in collaborating on a case study, please get in touch! Other recent case studies include restorative conversations among senior members of An Garda Síochána (here), and peer mediation in Castlerea Prison (here).

New blog: becoming a Restorative Justice Project Officer with Le Chéile

We are very grateful to Simon Keating for this blog on his new role with Le Chéile. He discusses the training and welcomes he received and the work Le Chéile does with young people, referred mostly by the Probation Service and An Garda Síochána.

Read Simon’s blog here, and Le Chéile’s service profile here. Please get in touch if you would like to write about your work! You might enjoy recent pieces on the second national mapping exercise (here), the development of an adult restorative justice strategy in Northern Ireland (here) and the 2021 Venice Declaration on Restorative Justice (here).

Louise O’Neill writes on restorative justice for the Irish Times

The Irish Times published an article (€) from author Louise O’Neill on restorative justice, desistance and meeting victims’ needs. Louise draws on a recent interview with actor Ashley Judd who met the man who raped her some years earlier. Louise writes: ‘Of late, there has been a reckoning with traditional forms of justice, including policing and the prison system. It has become clear that many of our structures to deal with crime are not working, and need overhauling, if not abolition.’

Oberstown annual report for 2021 features restorative practice

Oberstown’s 2021 report states that ‘the principles of restorative practice underpin all interventions with young people on Campus. The approach emphasises dialogue, using constructive and reflective questions to understand and resolve potential and actual conflict situations’ (p.18). It also states that ‘six Oberstown staff members were trained as facilitators [in a ‘Restorative Thinking’ programme] ready for a pilot programme in 2022’ (p.19). You can find the full report here and Oberstown’s service profile here.

Further materials of possible interest

• Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation is seeking an Assistant Programme Manager for its Community & Political Dialogue Programme – see here.
• Newstalk recently featured a discussion of restorative justice in relation to responding to youth offending – see here.
• Man who destroyed defibrillator meets with Carlow Town Community First Responders – see here.
• Restorative justice and mediation experts will be involved in the dispute resolution process for the Grenfell Tower disaster – see here.
• The Guardian features an interview on the publication of Forgiveness: An Exploration, written by the founder of the Forgiveness Project – see here.
• RTÉ Brainstorm asks: Does revenge make us wider and happier in the long term? See here.
• The European Forum for Restorative Justice is seeking new members for its working groups and committees – see here.