DR VICKY CONWAY, FORMER MEMBER OF STAFF AND GRADUATE OF QUEEN'S, PART OF GARDA REVIEW COMMISSION 

17 May 2017

The 12-member Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland set up by the Irish Government will include Dr Vicky Conway, a PhD graduate in Criminology (2008) who lectured in law at Queen’s from 2009-11.

Chaired by Seattle police chief Kathleen O'Toole, who spoke at a Charter Day Dinner at Queen’s University in 2003, the Commission also includes a human rights lawyer, a retired Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality and a former Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police.

 

The Commission will report back to the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald in September 2018. Announcing the 12 members of the review group Minister Fitzgerald said: “Crucially the Commission may bring forward immediate proposals and rolling recommendations for implementation that it considers are required to be addressed in the short-term, in advance of its final report.”

 

Minister Fitzgerald added: “I am determined to continue shining a light to uncover bad practices and issues that must be resolved…It is clear from recent events that systemic issues which have emerged require the establishment of this expert group on policing to report in a timely way on the further changes now necessary to meet the requirements of a modern police force.”

The root and branch review will look at structures for governance, oversight and accountability as well as leadership and management structures within the beleaguered Irish police force. Also under review will be culture and ethos, recruitment and training, and whether there should be separation of policing and security in the State.

Dr Conway is currently a lecturer in law in the School of Law and Governance in Dublin City University, where she teaches criminal law and criminology. As well as lecturing previously at Queen’s she has held positions at the universities of Kent, Limerick and Leeds.

A graduate of University College Cork (2002) and the University of Edinburgh (2003) she has a PhD and a PGCert Higher Education from Queen's where she studied from 2003 until 2008.

Dr Conway is a leading researcher on policing in Ireland with an emphasis on the intersection between social change, police culture and police accountability.

She has published two monographs on policing in Ireland (The Thick Blue Wall: The Morris Tribunal and Police Accountability in the Republic of Ireland and Policing Twentieth Century Ireland: A History of an Garda Síochána), edited a book on criminal procedure and written numerous articles on policing.

Appointed a member of the Irish Policing Authority in December 2015 Dr Conway has held visiting scholar positions in North America, Australia and Ireland. She is a member of the board of the Association of Criminal Justice Research and Development and has previously been a board member of the award winning Committee on the Administration of Justice in Northern Ireland.

General inquiries to Gerry Power, Communications Officer, Development and Alumni Relations Office; tel: +44 (0)28 9097 5321.

Back to Main News

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

           

Top of Page