The country’s most overcrowded prisons have seen a dramatic turnaround in capacity after 200 inmates were released early as part of emergency measures to ease overcrowding and prevent a Covid-19 outbreak.

A homeless agency says they are seeing an “influx” of prisoners who have been released early in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in overcrowded jails.

Covid-19 in jail could ‘present significant challenges’, says IPS

Middle ranking gardaí have asked Garda HQ about its plans in the event of the spread of coronavirus among members.

Three prison officers have lost their separate High Court challenges related to internal transfers and bullying allegations within the Irish Prison Service.

The prison watchdog has criticised the authorities in Mountjoy for repeated failures by staff to notice that a prisoner had died in his cell.

A prisoner who escaped from custody during a Limerick hospital appointment Thursday, returned himself to jail this Friday.

The number of inmates on a methadone treatment programme across the prison system last year was the highest since 2012.

A total of 23 pregnant women have been in custody in the country’s two female prisons so far this year, new figures have revealed.

The amount of drugs, weapons and other contraband detected in prisons continued to rise last year despite a range of enhanced measures implemented by authorities to stop smuggling.

Seven drones have been recovered from Irish prisons in the last two years.

A radical overhaul of the Irish Prison Service (IPS) aims to improve staff safety and tackle overcrowding in Irish prisons.

Disciplinary action being taken against a whistleblower in the prison service was dropped on the day that the Irish Examiner reported on it.

The Irish Prison Service (IPS) has spent more than €325,000 providing inmates with access to Sky Sports and other premium channels during the past four years, new figures have revealed.

Prisoners had a 10% rise in pocket money last year, with over €2.8m given to inmates for discretionary items such as cigarettes and sweets.

The Irish Prison Service (IPS) has been ordered to pay a prison officer €15,000 compensation for discriminating against her.

Prison boss Caron McCaffrey has said that she was “deeply concerned and disappointed” at findings of covert surveillance conducted by some prison officers within her security unit.

Some of what emerged in a damning report on surveillance in our prisons wouldn’t be out of place in a TV crime drama, writes Special Correspondent Michael Clifford

The Irish Prison Service has been urged to keep its nursing committal forms under constant review after an inquest returned a verdict of suicide in the case of a man who took his own life less than four hours after being committed to Cork Prison.

The prison officer who had a tracking device fitted to his private vehicle has called on the justice minister to publish the report into alleged illegal surveillance in prisons without delay.

The investigation into allegations of illegal surveillance in prisons concluded in March, but the findings have yet to be published, says Special Correspondent Michael Clifford.

Whistleblowing allegations from current and former prison officers dominated protected disclosures received by the Department of Justice last year.

A new recording system has revealed that far greater numbers of prison officers are injured by inmates than was previously reflected in official statistics.

The Irish Prison Service (IPS) has confirmed that there have been 55 sex offenders jailed for the first five months of this year.

The number of people being sentenced to prison – in the main for relatively short sentences – needs to be “urgently reduced” before overcrowding levels become “unsustainable”, penal reformers have said.

Sources at every level within the Irish Prison Service have contacted the Irish Examiner over the years to express concerns, ranging from sexual harassment to malpractice in the investigation of deaths in custody, writes Michael Clifford

The Irish Prison Service is investigating separate claims two senior staff members have been involved in fraudulently misappropriating State assets.

Hard-hitting report comes after vulnerable prisoner died in cell

New figures from the Irish Prison Service (IPS) have revealed the most dangerous prison in the country for prisoners - and prison staff.

It is now “crystal clear” to prison staff and managers that the failure to monitor vulnerable inmates will result in dismissal, the head of the Irish Prison Service has said.