Sir, - In his review of Tim Carey's history of Mountjoy prison, Vincent Browne (Books, March 25th) states that "penal policy has failed spectacularly to meet the goals it set for itself". The Government's prison-building binge shows that the lessons of this failure have yet to be learned.
When Mountjoy opened in 1850 it was the physical expression of a belief that criminals could be reformed through isolation, discipline, reflection and repentance. It was the translation of a philosophy of punishment into bricks, bars and bolts. This faith in the power of prison to reform proved misplaced and an estimated 500,000 men, women and children have heard the prison's gates slam behind them.
There is an urgent need to develop new ways of dealing with the petty offenders who clog up our courts. Prison is not the answer. - Yours, etc., Dr Ian O'Donnell, Director, Irish Penal Reform Trust,
Lower Dominick Street Dublin 1.