An evaluation of the IFA’s ‘Stay Onside’ programme.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
“We are all on the same pitch”: An evaluation of the IFA’s ‘Stay Onside’ programme.
IRAS ID
277315
Contact name
Conor Murray
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Ulster University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 4 months, 31 days
Research summary
On 17th November 2016 the Irish Football Association (IFA) and other agencies involved in Reducing Offending in Partnership – including the Probation Board NI and the NI Prison Service (NIPS) – launched the ‘Stay Onside’ programme. The aim of the ‘Stay Onside’ programme is to engage people in football to divert and deter them from re-offending.
As part of the project the IFA deliver the programme in the three prisons in Northern Ireland (NI): HMP Maghaberry, HMP Magilligan and Hydebank Wood Secure College. Prisoners close to their release from prison that have been complying with the prison regime and passed regular drugs tests are eligible to complete the six-week ‘Stay Onside’ programme that consists of six workshops, including ‘Basic Coaching Skills’, the ‘Laws of the Game’, ‘Mental Health’ and participation in a tournament. The ‘Stay Onside’ programme comes at a time when there has been a large increase in public and political interest in the power of sport to promote social, psychological and physical well-being, with a particular focus on football. In the academic sphere the benefits of physical activity and sport in promoting social cohesion and psychological well-being have been established, however existing studies have largely focused on the delivery of these programmes in the community setting with few studies being conducted in prisons.
The research will be an evaluation of the ‘Stay Onside’ project that is being delivered in HMP Maghaberry. It would be conducted in two phases, with two different cohorts of prisoners: separated prisoners; and non-separated prisoners. It is necessary to conduct this research in two phases as since the Steele Report (2004), Irish republican and Ulster loyalist prisoners have been separated from each other and from the general prison population. These prisoners regard themselves as ‘political’ prisoners and not criminals and classified as ‘separated prisoners’ by the NIPS.
REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
20/NI/0099
Date of REC Opinion
18 Aug 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion