Total commitment paying off
In the last of four articles examining the positive effect Community
Restorative Justice (CRJ) can have in mending community relationships, Ned
Kelly talks to Tommy Holland and Marty Morris - two members of the Upper
Springfield team in Belfast, who have driven the project forward to a
position of pre-eminence in Ireland.
The legacy of Fr. Des Wilson and Frank Cahill, who forged the tradition of
community development and local ownership of community projects in the
Upper Springfield area, is the inspiration for both Tommy and Marty - who
both have over 20 years experience of working locally for the community.
``Fr. Des and Frank,'' starts Marty, ``are very much the inspiration that
brought us into community development work. CRJ fits in with that vision of
democracy at a local level.''
It is this commitment to bringing the institutions, services, decisions and
relationships that effect the local community, as close as possible to the
local community - through democratic participation - that made CRJ such an
exciting idea for the two men when it first formally appeared in the ``Blue
Book''.
When the Blue Book, written by academics, community workers and
republicans, appeared two years ago, Tommy and Marty greeted its arrival as
marking a ``great potential''.
``After the Blue Book,'' says Marty, ``we realised the potential that existed
to engage local people to deal with local community issues in a way that
doesn't brutalise anyone. This is a progression in community development
and the only logical next step.''
Tommy adds: ``The reason CRJ is being so successful in the Upper Springfield
is that we have in place a very, very vibrant and committed community
structure.
``Residents' associations and community groups were already dealing, in an
informed way, with problems in the community. Community activists were the
first port of call, but it was always informal. CRJ is a structured formal
way of dealing with these issues or concerns.''
Following ``long debate'' in the area between February and June 1998, Marty
says, ``We came up with what we see as a viable model.''
``The Upper Springfield Community Forum, with over 70 groups from every
strand of community life, engaged in the project. Twenty people from within
the forum gave a commitment to the training, and 20 further people from
throughout the whole community are due to start training next week.''
``But more importantly,'' adds Tommy, ``the whole project is overseen on a
daily basis by a structured safety committee. This involves community
workers of long standing like Terry Enright Snr. and Eilish Reilly, young
people like Stephen McGlade and Julie Fryers and community workers from
outside like Marshall Mooney.''
Asking the pair about the negative press CRJ has been garnering brings a
knowing smile to the two men. ``It's been decided,'' says Marty, ``at the
safety committee level that we will not be wasting our energy responding to
negative media. While we don't understand the response and feel it comes
from a lack of understanding, the positive effect we are having can be seen
in the people contacting us. Not just locally but we have had referrals
from as far afield as Omagh and Jonesborough - these are the indications
that CRJ is a positive proactive intervention.''
Tommy also wants to stress that because CRJ is about agreement arrived at
by the people involved, solutions will not always work - obviously not
everyone sticks to such contracts. Of course we recognise there are
limitations to CRJ and we can't win all the cases but we will give 100%
commitment to every case.''
``We are a relatively new project, ``says Marty, ``and we ask people to hang
on in there. We are striving to continually develop. The absolute
priorities are confidentiality and consistency. We are working on team
policy, a code of conduct and operational procedure all the time.''
Both men live and work in the Upper Springfield area and both are parents.
CRJ is for them something that can be built on for their children and
grandchildren.
You suspect both men might be in need of CRJ intervention in the future
given the massive commitment both have to it and the amount of time they
spend away from home. So it is vital that people get involved, give a
little and share the workload.
Upper Springfield training courses are starting next week - anyone
interested should contact the Whiterock Resourse Centre or ring (01232)
328928. Or outside the area should ring Jim Auld (01232) 301521.
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