Overcrowding in prisons remains a day-to-day reality, a fact highlighted in a letter written by a frustrated and angry prison officer. Patsy McGarry reports.
It is not every day that peppery letters are fired off by prison officers, complaining to their superiors about the conditions under which inmates are held.
But John Ward, assistant branch secretary of the Prison Officers Association in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, was so angered by what he saw in the jail last month, that he put pen to paper.
"Animals would not be held in such conditions," he wrote, describing the state of holding cells. "That any person would be held in such conditions is evidence of the complete and utter disregard that the Irish Prison Service authorities have for the basic human rights of persons in custody. These conditions pose a serious health hazard for all within the prison."
The letter, dated February 17th, was sent to the governor of Mountjoy, John Lonergan. It was copied to the Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention, the doctors/medical officers at Mountjoy, and the prison's chaplains.
Ward's letter said: "On the night of February 15th, 2006, Mountjoy Prison had 513 persons in custody. There were not enough mattresses or duvet covers for all the inmates. On February 16th, the two holding cells in the 'B' Base contained over 20 inmates."
He attached photographs of the men in the holding cells, where they ate, drank and slept while being detained. One of the pictures, taken with the consent of those shown, is reproduced here.
"Warehousing inmates in these conditions; within such a prison, along with an even further withdrawal/reduction of services to inmates, are the ingredients for violent unrest in this prison," Ward wrote. "We all have a duty to avoid this and to provide a form of custody which is in some way consistent with the stated principles and objectives as set out in the mission statement, and which are of benefit to the inmates and society alike."
Mr Ward's criticisms do not come in a vacuum. Others whose role is to provide some form of oversight of prisons independent of either the Government or those running the service, have also been critical.
They include the Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention, Mr Justice Dermot Kinlen. In an interview with The Irish Times, he maintains Minister for Justice Michael McDowell had been "subsumed by the ethos of the department".
McDowell is "a man of great intellect and energy", who has been "brainwashed" into "the long-standing ethos of power and control, the 'them and us' attitude of the department", Mr Justice Kinlen said.
He pointed out that his own second report on prisons, due for publication in summer 2004, was censored because, as he was told, parts of it might lead certain civil servants to sue for defamation. As he wouldn't agree to this, publication was delayed for over nine months, and when it was published relevant paragraphs were dropped, he said.
He described St Patrick's Institution as "a warehouse to teach criminality" and where bullying was endemic. All 18 workshops there were now closed due to a dispute between the department and prison officers, which meant its 17- to 21-year-old detainees had "nothing to do".
He was the first independent Inspector of Prisons in Ireland since 1835 and is the only one in the Republic. A recommendation of the 1985 Whitaker report into prisons said the position should be statutory. This had not yet been done, though it was part of the present coalition's programme for Government, he said.
The Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of Prisoners had been promised it would be done by 2000, he said. The committee, which visits each European country at regular intervals to report on the conditions in their prisons, is due to visit Ireland again this year.
He had even prepared the required wording, which could be tagged on to a Bill, but this had not happened, Mr Justice Kinlen said. The Minister had commented there were "other matters of stronger priority". The Government had also failed to sign the 2003 UN protocol on prisoner protection against torture, unlike Britain, which had signed it. "Is this a denial of human rights?" he asked. "Is it in accord with the Belfast Agreement?" he said in answer.
Northern Ireland had a prisons ombudsman since last February. They also had a statutory inspectorate, with 10 inspectors, for three prisons, Mr Justice Kinlen said, while he had responsibility for inspecting 17 prisons and places of detention. In the North they were "light years ahead" on the issue generally compared to the Republic, he said. The prisons' visiting committee in the Republic had been "emasculated", he said.
Mr Justice Kinlen visited Mountjoy following receipt of the letter and photographs from Ward. There was just one man in each holding cell when he arrived there, he said.
He had notified the prison authorities he would be visiting, but didn't believe they had time to sort matters out before he got there.
Meanwhile, the generally ignored 2005 annual report from the Irish Prison Chaplains was scathing in its criticisms of the prison system. Published last November, it commented on the "steady regression" chaplains had witnessed in the prison service over the years where, they said, "the only change in the air is further expansion of this already failing system".
"Huge sums of money continue to be spent on the Mountjoy complex in spite of the fact that it is to be demolished and replaced," they said, while "able-bodied, intelligent and capable people walk aimlessly around prison yards, or lie in bed for over 17 out of every 24 hours".
Irish prisons had become "a dumping ground for the mentally ill and those struggling to cope with it through homelessness, addiction or vulnerability". It remained deeply disturbing "that such large numbers of people with psychiatric illness are left languishing in prison", they said.
It was also "with bitter disappointment that we must yet again this year note our serious concerns regarding the continued use, in some situations, of padded cells as punishment. This is now contrary to the policy of the State and should not be allowed to continue."
On the detention of juveniles, the chaplains said the current regime "blatantly ignores the established guidelines and regulations for the care of children in residential institutions". The young people concerned needed "a level of care and or professional intervention that is a world apart from what is currently available to them". Instead, juvenile offenders were "placed in a hostile environment that can at times be violent and degrading". It was "dehumanising at its very core".
They criticised "the shameful practice of detaining those awaiting deportation in Irish prisons". The numbers of such people held were "alarming" and, though none of them had committed a crime, they could be held for up to eight weeks and were subject to the same regime as those jailed on criminal charges.
The chaplains recommended "in the strongest possible terms" that there be a serious look at alternatives to imprisonment. "As a nation we have become obsessed with locking people up. We have made imprisonment the sanction of first resort rather than a last resort. We have got it wrong. We have lost the plot."
They called for "a proper and honest evaluation" of the present system before a stone was laid for the new prison at Thornton Hall. "That incarceration is needed for some categories of prisoners, namely those who pose a real threat to society, is a given," they said, but saw "absolutely no need for increased spaces and earnestly ask the Minister to seriously examine alternatives before embarking on another building project".
The time had come "for a new response, a different way", they concluded.