On the 6th and 7th of September, several academic and postgraduate scholars from Maynooth University’s Department of Law gave papers at the 11th North-South Irish Criminology Conference. The conference – an annual event hosted this year by the Sutherland School of Law at UCD – showcased the burgeoning field of criminology in Ireland, welcoming delegates from around the world to hear over 100 original papers. Many practitioners and policymakers, as well as researchers from Ireland’s growing criminology community, were in attendance, illustrating the potential of academic engagement to impact positively on the operation of criminal justice in practice. Maynooth’s criminologists presented on a variety of topics. At a panel on victims of crime, for example, Muiread Murphy, who will commence a Ph.D. at Maynooth in October, presented on work she has undertaken with Dr. David Doyle. Her talk focused on the difficulties associated with the identification of victims of human trafficking and the corresponding obligations of Nation States. Next was Siobhán Buckley, a second year Ph.D. student, who discussed her doctoral research in a panel on youth justice. She presented on the initial stages of her research, specifically looking at how punitiveness varies between the adult and youth criminal justice systems in some jurisdictions more than in others. Her research seeks to explore the factors which influence whether a jurisdiction promotes a distinct approach to youth justice. Then, in a panel on restorative justice and communities, new lecturer Dr. Ian Marder discussed his work with the Council of Europe to develop a new Recommendation on restorative justice in criminal matters. He analysed the detail of the Recommendation and its implications for the development of restorative justice within the Irish criminal justice system. In a panel on historical perspectives in criminal justice, Dr. Louise Kennefick presented with Niamh Wade, who will also begin a Ph.D. at Maynooth later this year. Their talk discussed the findings from the first phase of a project which aims to construct a comprehensive and multi-faceted historical account of probation practice in Ireland, from the perspective of core stakeholders. Finally, Dr. Etain Quigley co-presented with Dr. Blánaid Gavin, who researches in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the UCD School of Medicine. In a panel on mental and physical health, they presented their research on the necessity further to develop nation-wide mental health and neurodevelopmental interventions at various stages of the youth and adult justice systems – including in custody suites, probation, courts and detention. They described this as particularly crucial in relation to non-acute presentations (such as ADHD) in order to optimise early intervention, minimise the onset of acute episodes and reduce the criminalisation of mental health difficulties. The speakers all work or study within the Maynooth University Department of Law and will be delivering lectures and tutorials on the university’s range of criminology programmes, including the BCL in Law and Criminology, the BA Arts programme (in which students can major or minor in criminology) and the MA in Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice