Cells ‘doubled up’ at overcrowded Cork Prison 

MOST of the 167 cells at Cork Prison are at double capacity, with up to 52 inmates sleeping on the floor during February, Prison Officers Association president Tony Power told delegates at the body’s annual conference in Sligo.

Mr Power disclosed that, on a date in February, there was 352 inmates in the prison, which is regarded as the most modern in the State, up from 287, 12 months previously.

Yesterday, there were 348 inmates in custody at Cork Prison, which was at 118% capacity.

It comes against a backdrop of a surge in the prison population which Mr Power suggested was on the verge of reaching 5,000 inmates, up 25% on the figure from five years ago.

He said the Prison Officers Association had made repeated attempts to highlight the issue but it had fallen on ‘deaf ears’.

“Despite the promises on real extra spaces made here year on year by successive ministers — nothing happens — nothing,” said Mr Power. “And this is a disgrace, let’s just call it what it is.

“In February 2022, during covid, the bed capacity of the Irish Prison Service was 4,471 with 4,182 in custody.

“Up to March of this year, the 2022 capacity had increased by a mere 43 to 4,514 while the number in custody had increased by a staggering 763 inmates.”

“So, we are now being asked to house hundreds of additional prisoners into 43 additional spaces,” he said.

“Let’s look at Cork Prison, the most modern prison in the estate, which now has all but a handful of its 167 cells doubled up.

“A year ago, this prison was already overcrowded by modern standards, with a total of 287 prisoners.

“But now in 2024 [February], Cork Prison was housing 352 prisoners, with up to 52 prisoners now sleeping on floors.”

He said that while the Prison Service had a “proven track record in delivering a professional service to prisoners”, the good work of the officers was being hindered in an “overcrowded system, without adequate access to services”.

This was also “impacting directly on the potential rehabilitation of prisoners”.

Other issues raised at the POA conference were the increasing use of drones to deliver mobile phones and drugs to prisoners, and a hike in the number of attacks on prison officers.

POA general secretary Karl Dalton told his association’s delegates that prisons were being “flooded with contraband such as phones, drugs, and a variety of weapons”.

“During 2023, our seized 1,272 mobile phones, 1,294 drug packs, and 308 weapons, which were being smuggled into our prisons,” he said. “We have an increasing and concerning trend in regard to the smuggling of contraband, which of course is also tied to intimidation and violence within and outside the prison system.”

The use of drones to deliver contraband has also increased since 2019, when the matter was raised at a POA conference.

The number of violent incidents in Irish prisons has more than doubled since 2020, when there were 376 reported incidents, to 891 assaults last year.