Histories of Probation in Ireland: A Theoretical Analysis

(L to R): Gerry McNally, Deirdre Healy, Louise Kennefick, Nicola Carr, and His Honour Judge John O Connor

The UCD Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice and the Association for Criminal Justice Research and Development (ACJRD) co-hosted a seminar “Histories of Probation in Ireland: A Theoretical Analysis”.  This event was held on the 25 April 2022 in the UCD Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin, was chaired by His Honour Judge John O'Connor, Judge of the Circuit Court.    

The Histories of Probation project, which is funded by the Fitzpatrick Family Foundation, is the first of its kind to produce a history of Irish probation from the perspective of core stakeholders, namely administrators, probation officers, and clients, as well as archival records. This seminar focused on the perspectives of people under probation supervision from the 1980s to the present day. By shedding new light on the experience of supervision and the narratives underpinning probation practice, their accounts challenge received wisdom about the history of probation in Ireland.

SPEAKERS:

Dr Deirdre Healy, Director of the UCD Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Dr Louise Kennefick, Senior Lecturer in Criminal Law, University of Glasgow

RESPONDENTS:

Dr Nicola Carr, Professor in Criminology, University of Nottingham

Gerry McNally, Assistant Director, The Probation Service, and President, Confederation of European Probation (CEP)

(Lto R): Ian O'Donnell, Mark Wilson (Director, Probation Service), Alison Coyne

Maura Butler (ACJRD), with Louise Kennefick and Deirdre Healy