Ms Deborah Watters:

Some members may know the history Mr. Maguire has outlined of the development of community-based restorative justice projects in Northern Ireland, but, initially, issues arose with government. These issues centred on the fact that we had ex-prisoner and former combatant involvement in the projects, for which we never made any apology. We considered that to use restorative justice practices to transform communities in Northern Ireland, one needed to have ex-prisoners and former combatants at the centre of the process. At an early stage the Government placed an embargo on our projects, which meant we were not allowed to receive government funding. We survived because we received private philanthropic funding from the United States through Atlantic Philanthropies. That funding kept us alive for many years while we negotiated our way through a journey with the Northern Ireland Office.

We began the process very much true to our values. We considered that if we were to be true to restorative justice practices, we needed to work at healing broken relationships at all levels. That was the case with the government also. We began on that journey and our work and dialogue with the PSNI. We also began dialogue with the Youth Justice Agency, the probation service, the Department of Justice and others. Very soon our practice began to shine through because, as Mr. Maguire said, the number of cases with which we were dealing and the level of interventions were centred on issues the Government could not solve. It could not solve the problem of punishment attacks or the issue of summary justice in Northern Ireland, but with a cohesive, co-ordinated community response through the projects we were able to make a difference.

Recommendation No. 168 of the criminal justice review in Northern Ireland was on the development of community-based restorative justice projects. In 2005 – Mr. Maguire can correct me on the dates if I am wrong – both Community Restorative Justice Ireland, CRJI, and Northern Ireland Alternatives, NIA, became government-accredited projects. That meant we were able to be partners within the criminal justice system. We were able to receive referrals, not only from the public prosecution service but also from the probation service and the police force, the PSNI. We were also able to receive government funding. We have come from being agencies which were outside of the system and subject to an embargo to being part of the formal criminal justice system. I sit on the Northern Ireland Policing Board, while Mr. Maguire sits on the strategic tier of the Belfast policing and community safety partnership. We have, therefore, come a long way. The key to this and the message we want to get across is that it is very important to keep communities at the heart of community safety and community resolution initiatives, as communities need to have a voice. Our projects put victims, young people and parents at the centre of resolving local issues. As government-accredited bodies, we are now at the table with all of the other statutory agencies and able to bring that community voice to the centre of how they do business.