THERE are only three drug dogs in the country’s 14 prisons to search hundreds of delivery vehicles bringing supplies into jails every day.

THE prison service has been criticised for not doing enough to protect prison officers after two incidents in Mountjoy and Castlerea prisons yesterday left a prisoner seriously injured and five prison officers in need of hospital treatment.

GARDAÍ are expected not to issue penalty points and fixed charge notices to motorists next Tuesday as part of the public service day of industrial action.

Organisers say more than 5,000 frontline public sector workers took part in this afternoon's protest through Dublin city centre against proposed pay cuts.

PARAMILITARY murals, military drills where the staff have to remain silent, lax drug checks, blinkered security cameras and order-in steaks are part of a privileged regime for dissident republican inmates in Portlaoise Prison.

The Prison Officers Association claims that dissident republicans are running riot at Portlaoise Prison.

MOVES to block mobile phone use by prisoners is being undermined by senior jail staff insisting on bringing their handsets to work, Fine Gael warned last night.

A PRISONER had to get almost 100 stitches after being slashed in the face and back by another inmate in the state’s most overcrowded prison.

Prison officers say overcrowding is one of the main contributory factors leading to tension in the country's prisons.

Prison officers who catch visitors bringing drugs into prisons are powerless to detain them, and have no alternative but to allow them leave the prison.

INCREASINGLY ingenious ways are being used to smuggle drugs into prisons, including through kissing, in fruits and presents, and even in babies' nappies.

THE “clocking in” dispute between prison officers and management ended with both sides claiming victory.

A dispute over the location of clocking-in machines in Irish prisons was resolved today.

Prison officers and staff at one of the country’s hi-tech prisons were put at risk yesterday when the malfunction of an access system failed for 45 minutes, according to the Prison Officers Association.

PRISON officers claim they were put at serious risk yesterday when they were locked in with prisoners after a hi-tech security system malfunctioned for 45 minutes.

MORE than 3,000 prison officers staged a one-hour walkout yesterday in a row over time-keeping and new security measures.

PRISON officers will leave just a skeleton crew to guard all of Ireland’s prisoners today during a nationwide strike.

A KNOWN drug user who was before a Cork court and facing a jail term packed a few essentials for the trip - parcels of heroin under his foreskin, and a mobile phone, a SIM card and a charger up his rectum.

PRISON bosses were criticised yesterday after it emerged that 40 inmates in a Dublin jail are to be doubled-up in other cells to make way for a new extension aimed at easing overcrowding.

ONE in eight prison officers have been seriously injured in clashes with inmates in the past year, according to a new survey.

PRISON officers want a complete review of staff security at Cork Prison after another serious assault on one of their members.

An emergency meeting of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) will be held today after members balloted for industrial action over safety and security concerns at Cloverhill Prison.

FRUSTRATED prison officers will today raise the ongoing concerns about overcrowding, violent inmates and the scourge of drugs in Irish jails at their annual conference.

PRISON officers will this week push for the full roll-out of sniffer dogs in jails to combat the “scourge” of drug usebehind bars.

PRISON staff intend to meet with jail chiefs following the arrest of three guards over the smuggling of phones and drugs.

The Prison Officers Association (POA) is calling for the re-opening of Spike Island and the Curragh prisons to deal with the current crisis in the system.

Prison officers held emergency talks with management today following a knife attack on a gym instructor in Castlerea prison.

INCREASING numbers of prisoners are being given temporary release as a result of the closure of two jails, it was claimed yesterday.

THE closures of Spike Island and the Curragh Prison have destroyed the lives of prison officers and their families, with some being forced to drive six hours a day, the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) claimed yesterday.

The closure of Spike Island and the Curragh Prison has destroyed the lives of prison officers and their families it was claimed today.

More than 100 prison officers are due to mount a demonstration outside the Dáil today in protest at the closure of two prisons by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell.

John Breslin

JUSTICE MINISTER Michael McDowell left the door open yesterday for a possible last-minute breakthrough on the overtime row with prison officers.

PEOPLE from outside Ireland now account for one in five of all those sent to prison, new figures show.

"DAD their going to kill me because of you". That was the chilling message kidnappers sent to a prison officer in Limerick after they abducted his son.

Prison officers have been meeting with the Director General of the Irish Prison service this afternoon to discuss security concerns in Limerick.

TWO prison officers were jumped on after they seized a package containing drugs thrown over a wall of a Dublin jail.

Two prison officers were in hospital tonight after being attacked by inmates suspected of trying to smuggle drugs into a Dublin jail.

PRISON officers in dispute with the Department of Justice may ban working overtime unless agreement is reached on cost-cutting measures.

FINE GAEL’S justice spokesman John Deasy has welcomed the extension of the minimum Garda retirement age but said there was still a long way to go before the high retirement rate is reversed.

Eighteen prison officers are in hospital after three separate incidents involving prisoners and staff in Irish jails.

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell last night dramatically ratcheted up the bitter confrontation with prison officers regarding overtime pay.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell is expected to seek cabinet approval today for his controversial plans to close two state prisons and remove two others from the control of the Prison Service.