Deirdre Malone
Joan Deane said she and her family found it very difficult to deal with the loss of Russell while also dealing with a prosecution system that gave them little voice and little support. Photograph: Collins Courts
Attempt to collapse murder trial over mother crying in court

A woman whose son was killed after three men broke into her home told a conference on imprisonment and human rights at the weekend that the defence at(...)

Left to right: Adrian Bayley who was jailed for life for murdering Jill Meagher in Melbourne; Mark Nash, who murdered two women and was previously convicted for murdering two others; Brian Hennessy who was jailed for three life sentences for murdering Sharon Whelan and her daughters; and Clive Sharp jailed for life after confessing to the murder of Irish vet Catherine Gowing
Should judges be able to impose a minimum term for murder?

Zoltan Almasi had just come home from work when he heard someone banging on his van outside his Naas home. He took a baseball bat and went to investig(...)

Maghaberry prison, on the outskirts of Belfast. Officials in the Republic have failed to release information on how long prisoners are spending in solitary. Photograph: Pacemaker
Prisoners in North held in long-term solitary confinement

Prisoners were held in solitary confinement for months and even years in the North’s top security Maghaberry Prison despite a call from United Nation(...)

As the prison population ages worldwide, it is expected that more prisoners will die of natural causes in prisons and have active palliative care needs. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
Ageing behind bars: what are the healthcare challenges

The relatively recent phenomenon of ageing prison populations brings unique healthcare challenges for prison services worldwide. These include accommo(...)

A Prison Service spokesman said there was no specific reason for the rise in deaths last year but said there has been one death so far this year. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien / The Irish Times
Numbers of prisoners dying rose to 22 in 2015

There was a significant increase last year in the number of inmates dying in Irish prisons or while on temporary release. According to unreleased fig(...)

The bail scheme was first recommended by the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection Geoffrey Shannon in a report to the Government five years ago. Photograph: Garett White/Collins
Tender issued for bail supervision scheme for young offenders

The Department of Children has published a tender for a new “intensive supervision” bail scheme for minors awaiting trial. The system will add a laye(...)

Prof Sir Nigel Rodley, UN Human Rights Committee chairman. Photograph: Peter Thursfield
Long list of UN Human Rights Committee’s concerns included prisons

Much coverage of the UN’s scrutiny of Ireland’s human rights record, in Geneva this week, focussed on abortion and symphysiotomy. But the 18-member (...)

Pavee Point co-director Martin Collins, researcher Liza Costello and Irish Penal Reform Trust executive director Deirdre Malone at the publication of a report on Travellers in the Irish prison system. Photograph: Derek Speirs
‘Dedicated Traveller strategy’ needed in prisons

Effective methods of “ethnic monitoring” are required in Irish prisons as part of an overall strategy to aid Travellers break the cycle of offending b(...)