It is understood that the inmates refused to leave the yard after they had staged a dirty protest in their cells.

Two deaths of inmates have occurred in the last 10 days in the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise.

Inmates in Irish prisons were awarded €600,000 last year in compensation payments for injuries.

Inmates have been given €498,708 in interest-free loans by the Irish Prison Service in the past three years.

The overall amount of contraband seized in Irish prisons last year dropped slightly — and there has been a significant decline in the amount of weapons found in jails.

The number of people being jailed for failing to pay court fines has fallen by around 1,000 following the introduction of laws aimed at effectively eliminating the sanction.

Convicted criminals have been gifted more than €1m in ‘bus money’ to cover the cost of transport following their release from jail since 2009, new figures have revealed.

The transfer of prisoners from Cork jail to the new prison facility will be the biggest in the history of the State, and the improved conditions will contribute to prisoners’ wellbeing and subsequent reintegration to society, governor Pat Dawson tells Eoin English

A Pakistani man jailed for travelling to meet a 13-year-old girl with the intention of doing an act that would constitute sexual exploitation, in what was the first prosecution taken under child protection legislation, had his sentence reduced at the Court of Appeal today.

Murderer and predator Graham Dwyer was taken to the basement of Mountjoy Prison yesterday afternoon.

Prison officers are to raise concerns over safety with the Minister for Justice after three officers were injured in two separate incidents in the Midlands Prison yesterday.

Convicted criminals have been paid almost €19m in pocket money from the State while serving time in prisons in the past five years.

A man convicted of two rapes fled through the fields after his brother saw two "hitmen" on a motorcycle gunning for him.

The 30-year-old rapist of two children joins 12 other sex offenders serving a life sentence in Irish prisons. While he will be able to start applying for parole after he serves seven years, the average term of life sentences is just over 17 years.

Six out of 10 people sent to Cork Prison are jailed for non-payment of court fines, putting huge pressure on the system.

The Irish Prison Service has been ordered to pay a total of €85,000 in compensation after the Equality Tribunal ruled it had discriminated against three female staff in promotion competitions on grounds of gender.

The prison service expects fewer than 1,000 phones to be confiscated in jails this year, with figures also indicating that fewer people are smuggling drugs in to inmates.

Prison bosses said plans for a new block at Dóchas Women’s Prison, which have been criticised as posing “a risk to the health, safety, and welfare” of inmates, were no longer going ahead.

Almost 200 prisoners are locked in their cells for 23 hours a day — a rise of 10% in just over six months.

Seán Quinn is expected to mount a Supreme Court challenge early next week to overturn yesterday’s High Court ruling, which saw his son and nephew jailed for three months for contempt.

Irish prisons are awash with contraband with 15,000 illegal items — including thousands of weapons — seized in jails in the past two years.

Hundreds of inmates have been forced to double up in cells due to chronic overcrowding in the country's prisons, it emerged today.

MORE than half of the country’s prisoners are sharing a cell with other inmates and at least 200 are sleeping in cells of more than four people, according to figures from the Department of Justice.

In part one of a three-day investigation Cormac O’Keeffe unveils new figures which reveal a worrying and growing crisis behind Ireland’s prison walls

The Irish Prison Service today hit out at a study which accused jails of making no effort to ensure inmates remain in contact with their families.

MOBILE phone blocking technology will be introduced to an Irish prison at the end of the month.

MOBILE phone blocking technology will be introduced to an Irish prison at the end of the month.

Gardaí and prison officials are investigating the overnight death of an inmate at the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise.

VISITING committees have released their annual reports for 2005 on Ireland’s prisons. Here are the main concerns expressed.

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell last night moved to ease overcrowding at Mountjoy jail in the aftermath of a gruesome killing there earlier this month.

The Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has introduced moves to ease overcrowding problems at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin.

MORE than 110 prisoners were given early release in a 10-day period this month because of overcrowding.

A new method of cracking down on drugs is proving successful at the Midlands Prison in Co Laois.

Wayne O’Donoghue has been in custody there since a year ago last week, except during his trial last month.

The Midlands Prison has a very high rate of staff absences with an average of 20 people on sick leave each day, the Prisons Inspector said today.

A prison officer is in a serious condition in hospital after he was attacked by an inmate at the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise.

A convicted murderer attacked prison officers with a sharpened toilet brush while on a visit for hospital treatment, it emerged today.

Seán O’Riordan

THE two men jailed for their part in the fracas that led to the death of Brian Murphy are expected to be put to work in the kitchen of the Midlands Prison.

JUSTICE MINISTER Michael McDowell's plans for hard-hitting jail reforms have been dealt a blow with the decision by the country's best-known prison governor to quit when the changes kick in.

FOUR Cork TDs from different political parties have joined forces in an effort to prevent the closure of Fort Mitchell Prison on Spike Island.

PLANS to close the State’s two remaining open prisons were criticised yesterday.