Policing Northern Ireland

by Aogan Mulcahy

This book provides an account and analysis of policing in Northern Ireland, providing an account and analysis of the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) from the start of 'the troubles' in the 1960s to the early 1990s, through the uneasy peace that followed the 1994 paramilitary ceasefires (1994-1998), and then its transformation into the Police Service of Northern Ireland following the 1999 Patten Report. A major concern is with the reform process, and the way that the RUC has faced and sought to remedy a situation where it faced a chronic legitimacy deficit. Policing Northern Ireland focuses on three key aspects of the police legitimation reform measures which are implemented to redress a legitimacy crisis; representational strategies which are invoked to offer positive images of policing; and public responses to these various strategies. Several key questions are asked about the ways in which the RUC has sought to improve its standing amongst first, what strategies of reform has the RUC implemented? second, what forms of representation has the RUC employed to promote and portray itself in the positive terms that might secure public support? third, how have nationalists responded to these initiatives? The theoretical framework and analysis developed in the book also highlights general issues relating to the implications of police legitimacy and illegitimacy for social conflict and divisions, and their management and/or resolution, in relation to transitional societies in particular. In doing so it makes a powerful contribution to wider current debates about police legitimacy, police-community relations, community resistance, and conflict resolution.

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2005

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.