Crime and Conflict in Northern Ireland, 1921-2021: Stability, conflict, transition

by Aogan Mulcahy

The book analyses the relationship between crime and conflict in Northern Ireland since the establishment of the Northern Irish state in 1921. Despite the vast research literature that focuses on Northern Ireland’s political divisions and the violence of the ‘Troubles’, the relationship between these issues and crime has received much less attention. This book seeks to fill this gap in our knowledge by examining these issues across three different time from the establishment of Northern Ireland until the outbreak of widespread violence in the late 1960s; the period of sustained political violence known as the ‘Troubles’, through to the 1998 Belfast Agreement; and the peace process and transitional period up to the present day. While Northern Ireland has often been synonymous with conflict and violence, through much of its history it was characterised by a remarkable stability and distinctively low crime rates. As the civil rights movement of the 1960s gave rise to protests and counter-protests, paramilitary organisations embarked on campaigns of violence and Northern Ireland descended into a thirty-year period of violence and upheaval. The book considers the impact the conflict had on the overall criminal justice system and on policing particularly, and it examines the system of ‘alternative’ justice used by paramilitary organisations to respond to crime. It also analyses how the peace process affected crime levels and ushered in major reforms to the criminal justice system. Overall, the book highlights the complex and uneven ways in which political division and violence shaped the landscape of crime – suppressing it in some forms, enabling it in others – and criminal justice.

144 pages, Paperback

Published October 25, 2023

About the author

Aogán Mulcahy graduated from University College Galway in 1987 with a BA in English, Sociology and Politics. He studied at the University of Stirling and at Northern Illinois University, before receiving his Ph.D. in Justice Studies from Arizona State University in 1998. From 1991-1992 he was a research officer at the University of Leeds, and from 1997-1999 he was a research fellow in criminology at Keele University. He joined the sociology department at University College Dublin in 1999, where he is currently a college lecturer. In 2001-2002 he was awarded a Government of Ireland Research
Fellowship.

Reviews

[Thomas Harte · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you think of Criminal Justice issues in Northern Ireland of course you think of the 30 year conflict and the murder and mayhem associated with that. What this book tells us is that in respect of “ordinary crime” the situation was much different. Northern Ireland was and is a low crime society and this book outlines why this is the case. It is divided into three historical periods, 1922 up to the start of the troubles in 1969. Then 1969 to 1998 and finally peace between 1998 and 2023. The reasons for the low rates of ordinary crime are high levels of religious observance, surveillance by both state non state actors, conservatism and high leaves of informal social control at the community level. It is an important book as it shines a light on ordinary crime which has not received necessary attention in previous studies. Aodhan Mulcahy is an expert on criminal justice issues in Northern Ireland and this is a valuable addition to the scholarly literature on crime and conflict in Northern Ireland.

[Christopher Owens · Rating 2 out of 5]

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