Mapping 50 years of NIACRO – Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders

The year 2021 marks half a century of NIACRO’s work, supporting people involved with criminal justice, and their families, as well as the wider community. Born in the first years of what became a 30-year violent conflict, and operating in the criminal justice voluntary/community sector, NIACRO has survived through 50 turbulent years as one of Northern Ireland’s largest crime-reduction and communitybuilding organisations. This paper examines the lessons to be learnt from the longevity of this organisation, illustrating how the four qualities of responsivity, diversification, surety of mission and partnership working have been central to NIACRO’s resilience within an often-treacherous terrain of fluctuating funding. First, NIACRO has perceptively engaged with the complex local and national political landscape, and the ensuing criminal justice and social issues that emerged. Second, through diversification of services in response to changing penal policy, NIACRO has developed its vision and capacity to engage effectively with both statutory criminal justice and the voluntary and community sector. Third, NIACRO had at its foundation a core value of centring the needs of those in contact with criminal justice, and did not drift from this mission. Finally, NIACRO was able to build organisational resilience over the decades through a network of partnerships, co-operation and coproduction with community organisations and state agencies.