“Policing the Peace. The Burden of Duty” is a collection of essays on the experience of and perspectives on policing in N. Ireland. Published to mark 25 years since the formation of the PSNI and the NI Policing Board, its contents also consider the time before, the time since and the future.
There are 55 essays that gather and share experiences from the individuals, families, organisations and communities whose lives, work, service and decisions have shaped policing, accountability, reform and N. Ireland itself.
The essays are variously challenging and affirming, poignant and reflective, personal and authentic, of hope and hurt. We appreciate that some essays may make difficult reading.
There are contributions from victims and survivors, police officers, Policing Board and policing partnership members and staff, journalists, community and rights activists, government officials and others responsible for oversight. Different responsibilities, borne by many people in many different ways, each sharing in the “burden of duty” in its multiple expressions and different experiences.
This place is different now than even a few weeks ago. Parading has re-emerged and issues in our politics, policing and the Past have gathered. We hope that the essays may go some way towards understanding and addressing the issues and challenges we now face.
Thank you to all who have contributed an essay. We have been deeply conscious that you have shared lived experiences. We hope that this collection honours those experiences.
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“Policing the Peace. The Burden of Duty” Steering Group.
Dawn Purvis. Richard Buchanan. Alan McFarland. Alex Attwood.
The views and opinions expressed by contributors this collection are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the steering group or its individual members.
The essays
Judith Gillespie – “A Privilege to Help Lead”
Judith Gillespie was previously Deputy Chief Constable of the PSNI. It is impossible in such a short reflection to convey all of the nuances of my own lived experience in my 32 years in policing in Northern Ireland. However, if…
Pauline McCabe – “The Police Emblem”
Pauline McCabe is an international justice advisor, formerly NI Prisoner Ombudsman and previously a member of the 1st NI Policing Board. It was widely accepted that agreeing a new emblem for the PSNI would be the Policing Board’s first big…
Gerry Moriarty – “Salute their commitment and thick skins”
Gerry Moriarty writes for “the Irish Times” and was previously its Northern Ireland Editor “This is by far the most difficult job I have ever done,” Chris Patten remarked on publication of his report into policing reform in September 1999,…
Brian Rowan – Policing 25, A Re-beginning
BRIAN ROWAN – “POLICING 25 – a re-beginning” Brian Rowan is a former BBC correspondent and an author on the peace process I remember the lights in an otherwise dark building; remember the long hours pacing back and forward, watching…
Interview with Maurice Hayes
Professor Graham Spencer is Emeritus Professor at Portsmouth University. The late Maurice Hayes was a member of the independent commission on policing for Northern Ireland. This interview was conducted in 2015. THE REQUEST “A key person in the process was…
