PEACE COMMISSIONERS HAVE been working behind the scenes in communities since the 1920s, having replaced ‘Justices of the Peace’ in 1922. There are more than 5,000 of them around the country, but very few people know about them, unless they have needed their services at some stage, so we thought we tell you a bit about who they are and what exactly it is they do?
A Peace Commissioner is a person appointed by the Minister for Justice and Equality to perform certain duties within the communities. It is an honorary position and every single area in the country has people performing these duties. With over 5,500 of them across Ireland, you might even be living nextdoor to one.
There are a wide range of duties these commissioners can perform but most of the time their work involves signing or witnessing signatures on documents by various authorities, like local councils. A Peace Commissioner can also be called on to sign a warrant for gardaí or a court summons, though this is one of the less prominent duties they perform nowadays.
Aileen Browne, who is a Peace Commissioner in Cork, told TheJournal.ie that she often signs forms for college students, or those doing work experience. “Nobody might look for you for a month and then you might get three calls in one week,” she said. Browne, who is also a local election candidate for Fine Gael, has been called upon a number of times to sign warrants for gardaí and said she even sat in on an interview with a person under 18 who had been arrested last summer.
Francis Timmons, Peace Commissioner for Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare, who is also an Independent election candidate, said he is normally called upon once or twice a week. “I mainly sign children’s passports and there are lots of teachers looking for references for schools, appeals for penalty points – things like that,” he said. “It wouldn’t be warrants so much, you rarely have the guards asking us to sign something like that because it holds more weight if it’s done in the district court.”
Anyone can put themselves forward or be nominated to become a Peace Commissioner. However, any applications are required to submit information like their CV and everyone goes through a garda vetting procedure so if you have a criminal record, you’re not likely to be chosen.
Civil servants are usually only appointed where the performance of their official duties requires an appointment. Solicitors, people employed in legal offices and members of the clergy are also not appointed.
The Department of Justice says appointees are required to be of good character and they are usually well established in the local community. Many of the people who put themselves forward for the role are involved, or become involved in politics, like the two we spoke to. These are generally the easiest ones to find as they are eager to get their names and faces out there, for obvious reasons.
Peace Commissioners offer this service free of charge and, in fact, are not allowed to charge money for it. This is something that comes as a surprise to the general public, commissioners told TheJournal.ie. “It’s kind of nice to be able to give something back to the community,” Browne said.
Your local garda station will have a list of Peace Commissioners so that is the best place to go looking. TheJournal.ie did request a full national list but it could not be provided. “It can be difficult to find people,” Brown commented. “Some might not advertise the fact that they’re Peace Commissioners – they may not want the hassle anymore.”
“It probably needs to be made a bit more accessible,” Timmons said. “It is kind of hard to find people.”
“Some people wouldn’t know and might go to a solicitor for the same service but you have to pay them whereas we do it for free. and everyone is strapped for cash at the minute,” he added.
Have you ever used the service of a Peace Commissioner? Tell us about it in the comments below.
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