The Project aims to assist persons who believe they have been the victim of a miscarriage of justice and who have exhausted other legal remedies. We provide an investigative service to assist in discovering new or newly discovered evidence to assist persons and their legal teams in advancing a miscarriage of justice case.

Members of the Griffith College law faculty began work on the Irish Innocence Project in October 2009 and on the 6th of March 2010 the Project was officially launched. It was and is the first initiative of its kind in Ireland. The launch was overseen by Dr. Greg Hampikian, director of the Idaho Innocence Project and DNA expert for the Georgia Innocence Project. The Irish Innocence Project is one of 68 similar projects worldwide, including in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom which has been validated by the Innocence Network.

The Project has a long association with Griffith College and we are housed by the Griffith College law faculty and we also offer academic programmes in conjunction with the faculty. Additionally, the Project has enjoyed a long association with the law faculty of Trinity College and student case workers are drawn from the law faculties of both colleges.

The Project itself is an independent unincorporated association managed by a Board which includes representatives from Griffith College, Trinity College, as well as solicitors and barristers.
We currently have 23 law students and interns from Griffith College and Trinity College about 48 cases in which it is believed that someone has been wrongfully convicted. This work is carried out under the supervision of qualified solicitors and barristers who advise the students. The students review all aspects of a chosen case, from the original investigation to the final appeal.

The Irish Innocence Project is the only innocence project in the world whose home is a 200-year-old former prison where, at least, one man, Joseph Poole, is believed to have been wrongfully convicted, hanged and is buried in an unmarked grave somewhere on the grounds.