The Greentown Research team the School of Law, funded by the Department of Justice and Equality, have undertaken a follow-up study based on initial research which suggests that adults within local criminal networks target, entice and groom local children into committing crime. This evidence has informed a national and international expert design team in developing a new intervention programme to help children caught up in serious crime to escape the influence of criminal networks and access new prosocial opportunities. On Tuesday the 12^th of December, Minister of State for Equality, Immigration and Integration, David Stanton announced an allocation of €1.2 million secured by the Department of Children and Youth affairs to UL to test the new intervention programme in a local community in Ireland.

Associated research:

The full National Prevalence Study Report can be accessed here - http://hdl.handle.net/10344/6313

The original study which highlighted the problem of children’s involvement in criminal networks in Ireland ‘Lifting the Lid on Greentown (2015)’ can be accessed at http://hdl.handle.net/10344/5793