Mountjoy numbers to hit 160 over maximum

PRISONER numbers in Mountjoy are predicted to reach 700 this year – 160 above the maximum set by the Inspector of Prisons.

Internal prison figures suggest there have been 1,000 committals to the Dublin jail so far this year, compared with 800 in the same period last year and 600 in 2008.

A number of sources in the prison are predicting a “hot and heavy” summer, with rising prisoner numbers placing ever greater demands on the prison’s capacity, ratcheting up tensions between inmates and possibly also with staff.