In January 2025, the Criminal justice Open Research Dialogue (CORD) Partnership published An Agenda for the CORD Partnership, 2025-2026. The 2025-26 Agenda was co-created with dozens of partners in 2024 to progress the CORD Partnership’s goals over the coming years.
Launched in January 2024 and funded by Ireland’s National Open Research Forum (NORF) under the 2023 Open Research Fund, the CORD Partnership aims to embed a culture of interdisciplinary open research in criminal justice in Ireland. CORD has 135 partners representing 59 organisations working across research, criminal justice policy, agencies and oversight, non-state justice services, civil society, and research infrastructure.
The Agenda is one output from a year of collaborative work, for which partners met three times to identify CORD’s purpose, principles and priorities, learn from partnerships in other countries, and identify actions that can help build bridges and translate research into policy and practice. In addition to the Agenda, 58 CORD partners from 32 organisations co-authored an article that outlines a set of principles and priorities which they believe CORD should follow and address.
The Agenda has five action areas. These relate to sharing research findings, understanding each other, collaborating on events, piloting Areas of Research Interest and building infrastructure for partnership research.
The delivery of the 2025-26 Agenda will be overseen by an Implementation Group, drawn from CORD’s partners. With 20 partners from 15 organisations across the seven partner categories, the Implementation Group aims to ensure that the CORD Partnership’s Agenda is delivered to the greatest extent possible, and in a manner that meets partners’ and society’s needs. It will also provide direction on CORD’s development more broadly.
The CORD Implementation Group members are listed in the press release about the Agenda available on the Maynooth University website.
On the launch of the Agenda, Implementation Group (IG) chairperson, Dr Ian Marder (Maynooth University), remarked
‘CORD partners have built strong, positive relationships and hold a wealth of knowledge about research, policy and practice. This Agenda gives us an opportunity to take advantage of the momentum we’ve gained in recent years to make positive change happen in Irish criminal justice.’
IG member and former Deputy Chair of the Project Consortium, Dr Kevin Wozniak (Maynooth University), said
‘Researchers, policymakers, and practitioners all have different schedules, rhythms, and work expectations. Even when many stakeholders share the same goals, cultural and logistical differences across professions can present challenges. The Agenda presents an exciting opportunity to overcome these barriers, foster mutual understanding and collaboration, and pave the way for a more holistic, effective, and humane criminal justice system in Ireland.’
Read An Agenda for the CORD Partnership, 2025-26 below:
The CORD Partnership has received funding from Ireland’s National Open Research Forum (NORF) under the 2023 Open Research Fund.
