“The schemes being accredited today are..”
No sooner is the funding announced than those other 10 CBRJ schemes are accredited. Timing, eh? According to the Northern Ireland Criminal Justice Minister, Paul Goggins MP
“I have carefully examined all the relevant information on these schemes and share the view expressed by the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice that there is no cause for concern in the way that Community Restorative Justice (Ireland) schemes now operate.”
That would be this view by the CJI. And this is how those schemes operate.From the NIO statement
The schemes being accredited today are;
CRJI Central Office, Belfast
CRJI Colin, Belfast
CRJI Falls, Belfast
CRJI Greater Andersonstown, Belfast
CRJI Upper Springfield, Belfast
CRJI Head Office, Derry
CRJI Ballymagroarty, Derry
CRJI Brandywell, Derry
CRJI Creggan, Derry
CRJI Shantallow, Derry
Meanwhile, in the RoI:
Restorative justice was introduced for the first time in the Children Act 2001. There are two restorative justice initiatives provided for in the Act:
* A restorative conference or restorative caution included in the Garda Juvenile Diversion Programme
* A Court-ordered restorative justice conference delivered through the Probation Service.
I should imagine there would be a fairly swift reaction from Dublin if, say, CRJI Derry decided to extend its ‘remit’ into Donegal.
Ah Manna from Heaven for the DUP.
This seems to suggest that God Fearing Prods can be trusted to behave themselves without need of restorative justice schemes in their areas.