A HIGH Court action by a former IRA prisoner over the “slopping out” regime in Portlaoise Prison has been adjourned to the new year.
Evidence in the case has concluded and final legal submissions will be heard later.
Sean Mulligan (58), who was sentenced in December 2002 to five years’ imprisonment for IRA membership, claims he was degraded and humiliated by being forced to use a five-inch deep “potty” to defecate and urinate into while in his cell.
The case was heard over seven days before Mr Justice John MacMenamin, who yesterday directed the parties to exchange legal submissions by the middle of January, after which he will set a date for hearing of the submissions.
In his action, Mr Mulligan is seeking a declaration that he has rights, under the European Convention on Human Rights (EHCR) and the Constitution, not to be subjected to degrading treatment and to respect for his privacy. He is also seeking damages.
The case is against the governor of Portlaoise, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Irish Prisons Service and the Attorney General, who deny the claims.
The court was told the slopping out issue had been a “running sore” since it was first raised by the UN Committee on the Prevention of Torture in 1994.
Despite an undertaking in 1999 by the prison authorities that the problem would be dealt with, nothing other than “lip-service” had been paid to that promise by May 2004 when Mr Mulligan was locked up for 22 hours a day, lawyers for Mr Mulligan said.
The State argued it has made major strides in dealing with the issue throughout the prison system, with the result that some 70 per cent of jails now have in-cell sanitation. A new wing with in-cell sanitation opened in Portlaoise last month, it also said.