'Homemade' anti-anxiety pills were 10 times more potent than the legal drug according to Irish Prison Service medical staff

PVCs are tasked with visiting prisons regularly and unannounced to hear of any complaints which may be made to them by a prisoner. Members focus on issues such as the quality of accommodation, medical, educational, welfare and catering

Prison overcrowding

Why should prison overcrowding be of concern to the law-abiding citizenry of Ireland? The reason is because of the implications of prison overcrowding for public safety, in addition to its negative impact on human rights, writes Vivian Geiran.

It has emerged that the IPS is having problems with the chaplains reports for 2021 about GDPR. This is little more than a public relations invention, writes Mick Clifford

Tom is a father of two children in secondary school. He wants to set a good example for them. He does know that having their dad in prison, serving a lengthy sentence, is not a great place to start.

Four inmates died in Irish prisons in the first month of this year

As of last month, two prisoners born male but now legally recognised as female are being detained in a female prison for sexual offences

A section of land at Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison is to be dug up in a bid to find and identify the remains of up to 33 prisoners who were executed at the jail dating as far back as 1870.

A jury made the recommendation at the inquest into the death of Andrew Gearns, 29

An inquest into Andrew Gearns's death in Cork Prison heard of “glaring inaccuracies” in his prison medical notes

Call comes after a father of two was found unresponsive in his cell as a result of an attempted suicide and died eight days later at Cork University Hospital

Gardai and the Irish Prison Service (IPS) are conducting separate investigations, in line with normal procedures after a person dies in prison custody.

The research said data collected by criminal justice agencies were inadequate for the specific purpose of providing a meaningful or accurate picture of sentencing practices

Numbers released for festive period are close to double 2021 figures

Chaplains reports from Irish prisons, which were submitted in March, have not been published under the spin that they may be in breach of GDPR, writes Mick Clifford

Chaplains dismiss purported concerns about GDPR, saying they are already aware of the need to anonymise information about prisoners

The State imprisoned a damaged woman because she could not afford to pay a small sum for bail over an offence attributable to her illness. She paid with her life, writes Mick Clifford

The death of a young mother with mental health difficulties who took her own life in prison where she had been sent because she could not afford €100 for bail must be a catalyst for change, campaigners have said.

Justice Minister confirms electronic tagging is not currently being used

A Garda file on the investigation has now been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions 

Some officers were alleged to have encouraged dangerous prisoners to think the worst of other officers to the point where these prisoners might have been moved to violence

There were conflicting reports over the provision to prison officers of a list of inmates who had been placed under special observation.

The judge said that the claim from the woman that she had monkeypox may have been either "a false alarm or manipulated ruse"

Christopher Costello had previously received extra jail time after mobile phones were found in his cell

The two workers were permitted entry without the usual escort system in place, and were not able to leave until 7.30am this next morning, it is understood.

Employee with heart condition had acute cardiac event at work but requests to work from home were denied, Workplace Relations Commission heard

The Irish Prison Service's contact-tracing model is being used across the world

A black prison officer racially abused by prisoners has failed in his race discrimination case against the Minister for Justice and the Irish Prison Service (IPS).

Some €850,000 was spent on the scheme before the prison service opted not to pursue it

The prison service is planning to reduce the availability of sugary snacks and drinks in the near future, substituting them with healthier options

Upon visiting American prisons, philosopher Alexis De Tocqueville and prison reformer Gustave de Baumont wrote in 1832, “guard against extremes and do not let the zeal with which you advocate certain means obscure the object sought to ...

Over the last year, I have had the privilege to work on a book with a man who served as a prison officer for over three decades in Irish Prisons, writes Mick Clifford

Research shows prisoners feel humiliated and isolated, and their overall wellbeing is negatively affected

The award-winning podcasters, both former prisoners, were given an unprecedented opportunity to visit three Irish jails to meet and talk to inmates

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission will also be tasked with co-ordinating the activities of all 'National Preventive Mechanisms'

The Irish Prison Service wants to ultimately increase the percentage of sex offenders undergoing treatment from about 25% in recent years to as high as 80%

Only a quarter of those jailed for sex offences are receiving treatment amid a 150% increase in their number in the last 15 years

Inmates in Castlerea, Cloverhill, Limerick, and Midlands prisons can now make phone calls without leaving their cells

Three prisoners were released early from custody in error in the past 18 months because of miscalculations. In each case, the prisoner in question was recaptured and “returned to custody”.

Following an incident in late 2020 when a prisoner was recaptured having been released early in error, a review of 4,000 cases was undertaken and in 131 cases errors were discovered

The Irish Prison Service is preparing to recruit more psychologists to support the expansion of the Building Better Lives programme.

“When we had the responsibility, we dealt with it the way we dealt with it,” Department of Justice secretary general Oonagh McPhillips told the Public Accounts Committee.

The Kosi review was triggered after the Public Accounts Committee recommended an audit of the standards of account keeping within the Prisons Service in late 2020