The Policing Authority has commissioned research to explore the experience and perceptions of policing within diverse and minority communities in Ireland. Following a competitive tender process, the contract has been awarded to Dr Vicky Conway, Associate Professor, School of Law and Government, DCU. The research will be conducted with two NGO partners, Shane O’Curry, Director of the Irish Network Against Racism (INAR) and Rodrigo Souza Silva, Community Organizer, Brazilian Left Front (BLF).
Commenting on today’s announcement, Policing Authority Chief Executive, Helen Hall said:
“The performance of the Garda Síochána as it serves an increasingly diverse community is an area of enduring interest to the Authority. We are very pleased to award this important piece of research to such a strong and diverse research team.”
The tender was assessed by an evaluation board which was independently chaired by Dr Iris Elliott, Head of Policy and Research at the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The research, which is valued at €30,000, will commence in the coming weeks and will focus on the experiences of two communities—those of African descent in Ireland, and the Brazilian community in Ireland. It is expected that the research will be published in 2023.
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Notes to Editors
Researcher Biographies
Dr Vicky Conway
Dr Vicky Conway is a leading researcher of Irish policing and is currently an Associate Professor of Law at Dublin City University. She previously served as a member of both the Policing Authority and the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. Dr Conway has researched Irish policing extensively, particularly in the areas of Garda complaints and accountability, and is the author of a range of articles and publications in these areas. She holds a Masters in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Edinburgh and a PhD from Queen’s University Belfast.
Shane O’Curry
Shane O’Curry is Director of INAR, the Irish Network Against Racism, where since 2013 he has helped build a civil society network representing over 170 anti-racist community organisations. In 2019 his key recommendations on minorities’ experiences of policing were adopted by the UN Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) Observations on Ireland. At INAR he developed and launched iReport.ie, Ireland’s first state-wide online hate incident reporting system. He is current Chair of the Garda National Diversity Forum and a member of the National Anti-Racism Committee.
Rodrigo Souza Silva
Rodrigo Souza Silva is currently an Undergraduate Student in Anthropology and Sociology at Maynooth University. He is an advocate of the rights of the migrants and the Brazilian community in Ireland, having been part of the grassroots social justice collective Brazilian Left Front (BLF) since 2017. During the Covid 19 pandemic he was involved in a working group to address the effects on migrants of the lockdown. As a founding member of Community Ireland Tenants Union (CATU) he is currently working to establish a Latin American caucus within the organisation.
