Le Chéile Restorative Justice Conference Held in Limerick

Le Chéile Restorative Justice Project, in conjunction with the Limerick Regeneration Agency and Young Persons Probation, hosted Limerick’s very first Restorative Justice Event on Wednesday, 16 November 2011.  Over 60 participants representing 23 agencies from the community, voluntary and statutory sectors attended the event. This event was entitled ‘Restorative Justice – Re-envisioning Justice’, which was held in The Factory, Youth Space in Southill.  John Brosnahan Senior Probation Officer with Young Person Probation stated “the enthusiasm and commitment from the people attending this conference today is testament to the significant work that has been undertaken to date in developing restorative practice across Limerick City, these developments are being led by the young person probation team as part if the over all remit of the children services committee in tandem with Le Chéile Restorative Justice Project which is joint funding by Irish Youth Justice Services and the Limerick Regeneration Agencies”

The event was held to coincide with Restorative Justice International Week, which ran from 13 – 16 November 2011, and aimed to create awareness and highlight the benefits of Restorative Justice, by promoting local Limerick and Irish services using Restorative Practice.  Presentations were given by agencies including Le Chéile Restorative Justice Project, Support After Crime Services, An Garda Síochána, the Department of Education and Young Person’s Probation which highlighted the benefits of restorative practice.

Sean Kinahan CEO Le Chéile Youth Justice and Family Support Services” The hard work and commitment that has gone into developing the Restorative Justice project in Limerick really showed on the day. It is a testament to Mary and Sarah in Limerick that so many people engaged on the day and this really bodes well for the project into the future. Restorative Justice makes sense from every angle whether it be from the victims, the offenders, the community or from a value for money perspective. The long term benefits of having an appropriate restorative justice response make complete sense and I would like to thank the funders of the Restorative Justice Project in Limerick. I hope to see the Le Chéile Restorative Justice project develop further with the continued support of Probation and the Limerick Regeneration agency.

Restorative justice is an approach to justice that focuses on the needs of victims, offenders, as well as the involved community, providing a victim-sensitive and community-led response to crime.  It gives victims a chance to ‘tell their story’, and help offenders understand the implications of their behaviour.  Working with volunteers, the young person develops a greater insight into the impact of their crime on the lives of their victims, their own families and the community.

The event provided an opportunity for agencies to network and participate in a number of workshops which looked at re-visioning justice from the perspective of victim, offender and the community.  The agencies that attended participated fully at each work shop and identified how communities in Limerick can promote the practice and support young offenders who are willing to take responsibility for their actions and want to give back to the community. The support from the agencies present was very positive at looking at how the young people who are on  probation can be supported and also to empower communities and individuals who have been affected by crime to have a voice and ‘tell their story’. The Victims Perspective workshop which was facilitated by Sally Hanlon Director of Support After Crime Services she stated that “on hearing the victim’s voice on the day it afforded her an opportunity to share her experience and receive acknowledgement from the community based groups present.  If offered her an opportunity for closure in her case.   Personally as a victim focused organisation I would like to see restorative justice being made more available and taken up by victims of crime to assist them in regaining there lives.  For this victim and her family the circle was completed on the day.  As it was such an emotive day the kind gesture of Munster Rugby presenting with match ticket for her the victims son who had been badly affected by the crime was a lovely touch for the victim”.  This benefits of restorative justice were further reiterated by Juvenile Liaison Sergeant Seamus O Neil who stated “ Restorative justice is hugely beneficial to all parties as it was presented by JLO’s Jerry Scanlan and Pat Minehan who gave a good representation of the use and benefits  of Restorative Cautions being rolled out with youths in Limerick”

The Le Chéile Restorative Justice Project is based in Southill in Limerick and is embarking on its second year.  Le Chéile works with young people aged between 12-18 years who are involved in the justice system.  The Limerick project provides young person mentoring, parent mentoring, parenting programmes and restorative justice services to Young Person’s Probation clients and their families. Working with volunteers, it aims to provide a holistic approach to support young people and families who are referred to the Probation Services, providing a community-based response to youth offending.

Brendan Hayden Director Limerick Regeneration Agency “Limerick Regeneration Agency has supported Le Cheile’s Restorative Project for the past 2 years. This Project is about change, and fits in with the aims and objectives of Limerick Regeneration Programme 2009-2018. The Project endeavours to cater for youths at risk of offending, and offers alternative ways of dealing with these youths in order to keep them away from a life of crime. The Project always tries to bring both offender and victim together in an effort to reconcile differences, and in particular highlight the hurt and fear that can be caused when a crime is committed.  The recent seminar held by Le Chéile in the Southside Youth Space brought together Agencies across Limerick who are interested in the progress of this Limerick Project. It is a credit to the organisers that so many Agencies expressed an interest in attending this event on the day, and this augurs well for the future development of the Project nationwide.”

Mary Henihan Restorative Justice Project Coordinator “ This was a great team effort for the southern le Chéile staff team; which includes staff member from the Mentoring Projects and Restorative Justice Projects  in Cork and Limerick. The day was a big step forward in promoting the Restorative Justice project in Limerick City and other services currently using restorative practices. We have seen the benefits of using this approach with the Young People and Families we work with. It really is the way forward in encouraging empathy and creating dialogue between victim and offenders as well as within the family setting.  It was great to have such support on the day from all the community and youth projects present and having Governor Fergus Woods from St. Patricks Institution here today was a huge bonus. The over all feedback was very positive and this gives me great hope for restorative justice development in Limerick and Nationally”

If you are interested in volunteering for any of the Le Chéile Services please contact Mary Henihan on 087-0678336 or by emailing maryh@lecheile.ie. For more information check out www.lecheile.ie

Also If you have been affected by crime or know someone who requires the services of   Support After Crime Services please contact Sally Hanlon on 021-4320555 or for further information check out. www.supportaftercrimeservices.ie