Policing in a United Ireland: The Intractable Questions of Governance, Oversight and Accountability

Abstract

This article considers the impact of a shared island on police governance, accountability and oversight. Having outlined a framework for conceptualising each of these terms, it provides a history of policing on the island and an overview of the current structures. It then turns its attention to what options exist for a shared island, from retention to mergers and the creation of new services. The intricacies of each are teased out, including both practical and political issues. It establishes how complex the issues are, and the ripple effects of slight changes. Ultimately the article argues that to ensure the legitimacy of the police and the effective achievement of policing and

Doing Criminology and Criminal Justice in Ireland: Perspectives From a Peripheral Nation

“…This was the topic of her first book, The Blue Wall of Silence: The Morris Tribunal and Police Accountability in Ireland (Conway, 2010). She also published several peer-reviewed papers on this topic, including “Current developments in police governance and accountability in Ireland” (with Dermot Walsh in Crime, Law and Social Change , 2011), “Near or far away: Local police governance in Ireland” (in the European Journal of Criminology , Conway, 2019), and “Policing in a United Ireland: the intractable questions of governance, oversight and accountability” ( in Irish Studies in International Affairs , Conway, 2022). Her articles analyzed the decades of police scandals in Ireland and the State’s response to those scandals, including the Garda Síochána Act 2005, which provides the legislative underpinning of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission and the Garda Inspectorate.…”