Alternative to prison project has high success

A Nenagh-based project which brings offenders and their victims together for counselling and "restorative justice" has had a success rate of 84 per cent in deterring repeat offences, an Oireachtas committee has been told.

Representatives of the Nenagh Community Reparation Project, which is funded by the Department of Justice, told the Committee on Justice, Equality and Women's Rights that participants are referred by the local court as an alternative to a criminal conviction.

Reparation to the wider community is made by methods such as giving up annual leave to help disabled groups and working with tidy towns groups in much the same way as the Community Service Orders system operates. But with the restorative justice process the offender engages in a process of dialogue with the victim in a bid to heal the harm done by the offence.

The focus is on mediation, and negotiation between victim and offender in cases of neighbourhood disputes, assaults, drug and alcohol abuse and criminal damage.

Running since June 1999 the Tipperary project is small, having an annual budget of just €30,000. It put through a total of 63 offenders up to last September.

Presenting a submission on the project to the Oireachtas committee, Ms Carolle Gleeson, a probation and welfare officer and project coordinator, said its success was documented.

Of the 63 offenders nine refused to co-operate, either by a flat refusal, or a failure to fulfil commitments. These were referred back to the courts.

Some 54 offenders took part and 12 reoffended. While this gives a success rate of just 77per cent, the percentage of first-time offenders who did not re-offend, at 42, represented 84 per cent of participants.

The restorative justice project was instigated by Judge Michael Reilly with former principal probation and welfare officer Martin Tansey.

According to Ms Gleeson "normal justice would define crime as breaking the law or offending against the State, whereas restorative justice focuses on crime as an injury or wrong done to persons or the community.

It then encourages the victim and the offender to be directly involved in resolving any conflict through dialogue and co-operation".

She told the Oireachtas members the powersharing partnership, which is staffed by volunteers and works closely with the Garda and probation service, regularly addressed the underlying factors leading to serious problems and crime. As such the project was a preventative measure in the community as well as a restorative project.

The Oireachtas committee's review of community policing is due to be published next month. The review has a particular reference to examine co-operation between the Garda, local communities and local authorities.