Join us for a behind-the-scenes talk with Professor Joanne Murphy! In this 30-minute conversation facilitated by moderator Keith Grint, we’ll explore the research behind the book — the questions that drove it, the evidence it draws on, and the arguments it builds — and touch on key insights. We’ll save time at the end for questions from the audience, making this an interactive experience where you can connect directly with the author.

About the Book

This book examines leadership through 25 years of policing change in Northern Ireland, tracing the transition from the Royal Ulster Constabulary to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). It explores how leaders have navigated organisational transformation in an environment shaped by political uncertainty, repeated crises and the enduring legacy of conflict.

Combining first-hand accounts with scholarly analysis, the book considers how leaders have built legitimacy, negotiated competing expectations and sustained reform while meeting the demands of everyday policing. It examines the relationship between leadership and context, showing how political progress and stagnation have shaped leaders’ choices, and how those choices have influenced Northern Ireland’s political trajectory.

The book offers insights into the possibilities and limits of leadership in contested institutions. It argues that the PSNI has overcome substantial foundational obstacles and built significant legitimacy, while revealing how the past continues to shape organisational culture and constrain change. In doing so, it explores what leadership can achieve, how its achievements endure, and why institutional transformation remains unfinished.