The Violence of Peace: Post Good Friday Agreement Paramilitary Vigilantism in Northern Ireland

This paper focuses on post Belfast/Good Friday Agreement paramilitary violence in Northern Ireland, specifically the vigilantism of paramilitary style attacks (PSAs) carried out by the loyalist and republican paramilitaries. This localised form of violence, formerly referred to as punishment attacks, has been the most persistent form of paramilitary violence in a post-conflict Northern Ireland. This paper critically analyses the broad criminological literature on the emergence of vigilantism, including consideration of factors impacting police confidence. The findings are applied to Northern Irish PSAs from 1998 to 2023. The author analyses data relating to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The results of these FOIs indicate that loyalist and republican paramilitaries combined have been responsible for 3,260 PSAs from 1998 to February 2023. Paramilitary republicans have been responsible for 1,196 attacks and loyalists responsible for 2,064. The article considers the post-Agreement evolution of this violence in terms of victims, injuries, geographical location, and police response. The most recent data indicate a downturn in PSAs. However, there are still significant challenges faced in the development of broader trust for the criminal justice system, within certain areas of Northern Ireland.