Conditions at Mountjoy Prison are getting worse, with the number of attempted suicides last year more than double those in 1995, according to the visiting committee's latest report, which has not yet been published by the Minister for Justice, writes John Maher, Drugs and Crime Correspondent
By JOHN MAHER
THE number of attempted suicides at Mountjoy Prison more than doubled last year. There were 64 attempted suicides in the Dublin jail compared to 28 in 1995 according to the 1996 report of the Mountjoy Prison Visiting Committee.
The committee says the increase is due to greater drug use, inadequate medical and psychiatric facilities and overcrowding. The jail is infested with mice and cockroaches, and a number of prisoners and staff were put on medication last year after exposure to tuberculosis.
The report has yet to be published by the new Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue. He is expected to publish it promptly, however. Last year, he accused the then Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, of a "cover up" when she delayed publication of the 1995 report while taking legal advice on its contents.
The report repeats many of last year's criticisms by the visiting committee, a statutory body made up of ministerial appointees not directly connected to the prison service.
It highlights the practice of placing mentally disturbed prisoners in padded cells, and says at least 100 prisoners "should be in a psychiatric setting and not in prison at all". Mentally disturbed prisoners are sometimes left in padded cells for as long as 10 days. The use of the cells - in the absence of any alternative - is also a matter of concern to the prison governor, Mr John Lonergan, the committee says.
In the main Mountjoy Prison, which normally accommodates 650 male prisoners in a space built for 450, there were 42 attempted suicides last year compared to 13 the previous year. There were two suicides - from hanging and an overdose.
In the women's prison, which accommodates up to 55 prisoners, there were 22 attempted suicides in 1996 compared to 15 the previous year. There was one suicide.
The committee includes 26 drug overdoses in both jails as attempted suicides - although management argues that many overdoses are not attempted suicides, but are accounted for by the poor health of prisoners who may know little about the drug they are taking.
In the women's prison, some attempted suicides are also said to result from "aggressive lesbianism" with some prisoners depressed about demands for sex from others. A psychiatrist visits the women's prison for only one hour a week.
However, the staff are commended for vigilance without which the number of suicide attempts would have been far higher.
The committee estimates that almost 90 per cent of the prisoners have a history of drug abuse and that about a third of the male prisoners are "regular heroin users while in prison".
"Prisoners on temporary release are under immense pressure to bring drugs back with them," the report says. Some do so under threat. Relatives on visits are also coerced by prisoners who threaten to commit suicide if drugs are not brought to them on a visit.
The committee says that, despite improved security, there may be a case for separating all prisoners from visitors by screens, but the blocking of this drugs "access route" might "heighten tensions throughout the prison to dangerous levels and endanger prison officers and prisoners".
"Drugs help 'keep the lid' on Mountjoy," the report says. "Prison staff will tell you that they can sense increased tensions when the drugs flow has been reduced or cut off for a period." Of the injecting drug users who entered a drug treatment programme at the jail, 20 per cent had started the habit while in prison.
The committee also draws attention to a complaint by a prisoner last year who alleged he was beaten during a search for drugs by prison officers, and received blows to the head and body.
However, prison sources said reasonable force was used to search a prisoner who refused to allow himself to be searched, and that the Garda was contacted after his complaints. Gardai interviewed all those involved and a file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, but no prosecution was initiated.