Community-based restorative justice (CBRJ) initiatives in Loyalist/Unionist and Nationalist/Republican communities in Northern Ireland emerged in 1998 with the intention of providing a non-violent alternative to punishment violence. Schemes have diversified and have been described in research literature. However, there is limited research on young people’s involvement with CBRJ. Drawing on qualitative research conducted with a number of CBRJ stakeholders, this paper explores some of the developments CBRJ initiatives have enabled for young people in their communities, by facilitating positive relationships between young people and the police and creating meaningful ‘needs-based’ diversionary programmes. It analyses contemporary challenges to CBRJ’s interaction with young people. The most significant barriers appear from within the communities CBRJ serves.

The complex relationships many young people have with paramilitaries are linked with their sense of space and place. Feelings of political disenfranchisement, particularly in the Loyalist/Unionist community, have created difficult terrain for CBRJ. The paper highlights how narratives of community development, conflict transformation and early intervention strategies complement one another.