Oireachtas committee hears CRJI presentation

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I travelled to Dublin on Thursday 18 October to deliver a presentation to The Joint Committee of the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement at Leinster House. The presentation was delivered to a number of MPs from the North as well as TDs and Senators.
 
Community Restorative Justice Ireland and Northern Ireland Alternatives had been invited to do the presentation by Senator Martin McAleese who also attended the session.
 
My colleague Debbie Watters, assistant director of Northern Ireland Alternatives, travelled with me to Leinster House to do the presentation.
 
I have worked with Debbie Watters for many years delivering joint presentations and attending meetings with community and statutory bodies our work. We have developed a good rapport and have a shared vision on the worth and value of Restorative Justice.
 
The atmosphere in the committee room was both friendly and in many cases informed. It was clear from the outset that all who attended were there to listen and to discuss the import of our presentations.
 
We gave a historical perspective of how Restorative Justice has been developed in the communities in which we work. These communities may have different political and religious outlooks but the issues they face on a daily basis respect no such boundaries.
 
We explained how we impacted on punishment violence by armed groups but just as importantly how we began to employ the skills gained through training and experience across a wider range of disputes within our respective communities.
 
The question and answer session which followed the presentations were insightful and underpinned our belief that the effects of crime and anti-social behaviour are the same across the island of Ireland.
The TDs, MPs and Senators were interested about a number of areas of our work. What was our relationship with the criminal justice system? What was the breadth of our work? How did we view future developments within the field of Restorative Justice? They asked could there be a use for these approaches in the private sector or as a method of engaging former combatants.
 
Of course, the response was a positive on all these fronts. Restorative Justice approaches are so flexible that they can be used across a very broad range of issues in society. Restorative approaches are also determined and shaped by the values that underpin the ethos and philosophy of Restorative Justice.
 
In our daily work we use Restorative approaches in criminal justice work which includes police, probation, offenders and victims. We work with young people in a restorative manner and we are in partnerships with all the above as well as having projects with the Belfast Trust, Belfast City Council and the largest housing provider in the north, the Housing Executive.
 
Seven years ago we also instigated a school project which ran for three years with quite remarkable results. We publicised and launched the findings of this project in 2011 in a book called Beyond
the Three ‘Rs’ which is an extensive written account of the work of the project.
 
I have no doubt that the partnerships with the statutory agencies in the north can be replicated and adapted to suit in a southern context.
 
Equally our community office approach, which deals with so many issues, including preventative work with people before their issue reaches a statutory level,would be a valuable resource to any community across the island.
 
CRJI is a community friendly organisation which seeks to empower and develop the capacity of the communities in which we work to help build restorative responsive communities that can grow in the context of safety and respect.