Corrie in the clink: TV soap cleans up bad behaviour in jail
By Jimmy Woulfe Mid-West Correspondent
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
A NICE CUPPA and a sit-down in front of Corrie — whether you’re at home in your three-bed semi or behind bars.
Prisoners in Limerick Prison like nothing more than to settle down to watch Coronation Street when it airs four times a week, management at the prison have discovered.
As soon as Corrie hits the screen prison staff have noticed there’s a surge in electricity usage in the institution — this is due to prisoners putting on their in-cell kettles as they settle down to catch up on the latest happenings in Weatherfield.
One prison source said: "Even going on the rounds on the landings prison officers notice the huge number of people tuning into Coronation Street. Even in chat on the landings, you will often hear talk of what’s going on in Corrie."
Former governor, the late Pat Laffan, first came up with the idea of putting TV sets into individual cells.
And this proved a major success — leading to a big decline in violent incidents among prisoners.
As well as in-cell TV, prisoners also have access to their own kettles to put on a cuppa while watching their favourite programmes.
Prison chaplain Fr John Walsh said he was not surprised at the popularity of the British soap among prisoners.
He said: "It is only human nature that they would like to tune into Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
"That should not be surprising that they would like to watch the same programmes on TV like the rest of us."
Fr Walsh, who has been prison chaplain for the past nine years said the introduction of in-cell TVs by the late Governor Laffan was a tremendous step forward.
Fr Walsh said: "When Governor Laffan introduced the in-cell TV there was a huge amount of illiteracy — and prisoners who could not read had nothing to do when locked up in their cells for long hours. We have found that it has led to a huge fall in the incidents of self-harm among prisoners and that has been one of the many positive consequences of it. Prisoners don’t have to stare at four walls and the in-cell TV fulfils a big need."
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Wednesday, February 02, 2011
