{"id":618,"date":"2015-05-22T15:20:03","date_gmt":"2015-05-22T14:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/?p=618"},"modified":"2015-05-22T15:20:03","modified_gmt":"2015-05-22T14:20:03","slug":"proposals-for-new-policing-authority-in-ireland-have-been-watered-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/proposals-for-new-policing-authority-in-ireland-have-been-watered-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposals for new Policing Authority in Ireland have been \u2018watered down\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Concerns expressed by policing expert Dr Vicky Conway that the Irish Government’s proposals for a new independent Policing Authority have been ‘watered down’ are heavily quoted in an article published in the Irish Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Dr Conway\u2019s comments come after the publication of legislation providing for the establishment of the new independent body earlier this week by Ireland\u2019s Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald.<\/p>\n

In the Irish Examiner<\/em> article, \u2018Policing body plans \u2018watered down<\/a>\u2019, Dr Conway expresses her concern that \u2018new legislation will not be enough to end the \u201ccycle of scandal-reform, scandal-reform\u201d that has beset the force.\u2019<\/p>\n

Earlier in the week Dr Conway was interviewed for the Irish evening news radio programme Drivetime<\/a> <\/em>(approx. 51 minutes in), on RTE1.<\/p>\n

Asked by show host Mary Wilson whether the legislation signalled the sea change indicated by the Minister for Justice, Dr Conway said: \u2018I think it’ll be a very significant change, I’m not quite sure I’d go as far as say a sea change but I think the establishment of an independent body that takes control of much of the governance of an Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Ireland\u2019s police force) is a very positive and necessary development in Irish policing.\u2019<\/p>\n

Dr Conway\u2019s research expertise in policing, miscarriages of justice and criminology is regularly called upon by Irish media. Last year, she was quoted as a \u2018top security expert\u2019 by Irish newspaper, Herald.ie<\/a><\/em>. She has previously appeared on RTE Radio 1\u2019s Morning Ireland show, the Morning Edition<\/em> on RTE One (a live, national news and discussion programme on Ireland\u2019s mainstream television channel) and on Newstalk\u2019s Lunchtime radio programme.<\/p>\n

Dr Conway is the author of The Blue Wall of Silence on police accountability and the Morris Tribunal<\/em>. Her third book, Policing Twentieth Century Ireland<\/em> was published last year by Routledge. For more information about her research and publications, visit Dr Conway\u2019s staff profile page<\/a>.<\/p>\n