Irish jails 'in crisis'

Portlaoise prison houses some convicted terrorists

Ireland's inspector of prisons has severely criticised the country's prison system and recommended that two of its biggest jails be knocked down.

In the country's first annual report on the state of prisons, Dermot Kinlen said the high-security Portlaoise and Mountjoy prisons should be demolished for what he called their "unacceptable" conditions.

Mr Kinlen said far too many people were sent to prison in Ireland, and most prisons had become "finishing schools" in crime for their young inmates.

The number of prisoners who are unoccupied during periods of unlock is soul-destroying

Dermot Kinlen

He said that many young prisoners became addicted to drugs in prison, where he described sanitary and other conditions as appalling.

"For prisoners and staff to have to live and work in such conditions in this age is just unacceptable," he said. "These old prisons need to be knocked down and rebuilt or replaced elsewhere."

'Peculiar mindset'

The Irish prison system holds 3,200 prisoners, has a staff of 3,400 and costs the state over 300m euros a year.

But Mr Kinlen said the prisons were overstaffed and inefficiently run.

"The number of prisoners who are unoccupied during periods of unlock and who spend their time walking around exercise yards or sitting in recreation areas watching TV or playing games is soul-destroying," he wrote.

And he described as "scandalous" a system of releasing prisoners with just 60 euros on a Friday night and denying them access to social security payments for a fortnight.

Mr Kinlen, who is a former Irish High Court judge, also attacked the Justice Department in Dublin for having a "mindset of power and control".

He accused the department and the prison service of trying to keep him out of the way.

"The fact that they wanted me to take six months off to read myself into the job and wanted me to go on a tour of Western Australia and possibly New Zealand shows their peculiar mindset," he said.

"While many intepretations will be put on these offers, I took them as meaning that I was not to do any real work."