Prison authorities at Mountjoy have been accused of suppressing “freedom of religious expression” among inmates there by a Catholic bishop as he and others had not been “fully consulted” about construction works at the prison chapel that has closed it off to worship.
“The exact starting date and final details of the extent of these major works currently underway were not communicated to me,” Bishop of Kilmore Martin Hayes, who is liaison bishop to the Irish Prison Service, said in a statement. Nor had there been “appropriate consultation with prisoners or with prison chaplains regarding this project”.
He described himself as “alarmed” at what was taking place as regards the chapel at Mountjoy in Dublin’s north inner city. A “unilateral approach” there led him to conclude that “prisoners’ rights in Mountjoy – in terms of their freedom of religious expression – have been suppressed by authorities. As the holy season of Advent leading up to Christmas begins this Sunday, the timing of this decision is particularly poignant”.
“The prison chapel is consecrated ground and I intend to raise the Mountjoy Prison chapel case with the IPS Director General, Ms Caron McCaffrey.”
Ireland weather: Met Éireann issues warnings for several counties, beginning from today
Fiunn McRedmond: MasterChef star Gregg Wallace’s bad behaviour was not ‘uncovered’. It was loud, lewd and widely known
Fianna Fáil’s policing agenda set to trigger coalition spat over justice portfolio
Father charged with murder of daughter (8) and attempted murder of her mother in New Ross
He is to meet Ms McCaffrey on Friday.
Over recent months he had been consulted about “some ‘modifications” at the chapel but that “at no point was it suggested that the chapel space would be closed off for worship. This is now the case”.
“The facility of gathering for Mass in the chapel for prisoners and staff has been removed. It seems that the chapel is being repurposed to facilitate Mass via webcam only. However, Mass via webcam is the not the optimum celebration of the Eucharist,” he said.
This “rush to complete works on the prison chapel” was “an affront to prisoners and their families, to prison chaplains and to the wider Church community”. It was “devastating news” for the prisoners and the prison chaplaincy services.
Bishop Hayes said he was “deeply saddened that the pews are stacked, the carpets are being removed and that the ‘Stations of the Cross’ have been taken down. I am sure that this is a cause of great distress to the community of Mountjoy Prison, and especially so for the chaplains who are doing their best to keep hope alive in difficult circumstances”.
“Prisoners’ surveys had established that 60 per cent experience mental health difficulties, and that prayer and spirituality help best to manage prisoner stress and anxiety,” he said.
“The hurry to close the Mountjoy Prison chapel, without due consultation with all affected, must be halted immediately.”
A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service explained that it was “currently experiencing record numbers of prisoners in custody. This situation coupled with a sharp increase in demand for prisoners to attend court required the IPS to rapidly increase video link capacity”.
Various option were considered “before it was determined to adjust the footprint of an underutilised space to the rear of Mountjoy Chapel to safely accommodate a new video link area for court appearances,” he said.
Construction work on this is to begin next Monday and should take “approximately eight weeks”.
For health and safety reasons “the chapel will be closed to prisoners during the construction period” while “in-person Mass would be available at other locations around Mountjoy”. Mass would also “be streamed live via the in-cell TV channel.”
On completion, the chapel would “retain a capacity of up to 96 people. In-person Mass is held each fortnight and the average attendance for in-person Mass at present is circa 25 persons,” he said.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
