Doing Peace and Security: Civil Society and the Production of Security on the Island of Ireland

• In Event: Crime, Science and Politics WG Panel 3. Society’s role in Criminal Policy Making

Abstract

Critical elements of the peace settlement in Northern Ireland included the reform of policing, the formation of political institutions, the standing down of paramilitary violence and the transition of combatants to both politics and civil society. In the Republic of Ireland, police reform since 2005 gave rise to a greater pluralisation of policing, embracing inputs at local and municipal level by both civil society and local politics. In the border context, civic peace and security was greatly aided by the effective invisibility of the border – a resolution which has been seriously jarred by Brexit and the uncertainties and tensions it creates. This paper reports on the qualitative findings of a study of the role of civil society in the production of ‘everyday security’ in the border regions of Ireland, north and south. The findings stress the central role of local actors who make investments in everyday practices including the de-escalation of conflicts, the formation of relationships across nationalist and unionist divides, and engagements with formal policing institutions. While civil society is relied upon to provide inputs into producing security in the form of information capital and goodwill (social capital), its value remains unenumerated in the production of peace and security, and consequently it is a marginal, underfunded and poorly resourced sector.

Authors

• Allely Albert, Queen's University Belfast

• Matt Bowden, TU Dublin

• Amanda Kramer, Queen's University Belfast

• Chloe Therese Carragher, Technological University Dublin