The Government is to build a new prison in Cork City rather than proceed with a planned super-jail in North Cork which would have catered for all prisoners in Munster.

A PRISONER facing a long sentence for dealing heroin who carried heroin, cannabis and 180 anti-depressant tablets into prison inside his body was given an additional year in jail yesterday.

THIS week the Irish Prison Chaplains’ Report revealed abuse of thousands of our fellow citizens almost on a par with the terrible human neglect and abandonment recorded in the Murphy and Ferns reports.

OFFICIALS at Cork Prison have said that up to 15% of inmates are at risk of contracting swine flu.

Six prison wardens were injured in a Cork jail this morning during a scuffle which broke out as prisoners were being escorted to their cells, according to media reports.

THE horrific killing of a prisoner in Mountjoy could easily be repeated in Cork if the jail’s chronic overcrowding is not addressed, it was warned yesterday.

PRISON management is to meet prison officers following separate ballots for industrial action at two jails in Dublin and Cork.

THE authorities are hoping a 12-day dirty protest by three prisoners in Cork jail will be called off shortly, despite the fact the inmates haven’t told officials what sparked the action.

MENTAL health groups yesterday expressed concern at reports that the Central Mental Hospital is to be relocated to the same site as the replacement complex for Mountjoy Prison.

Gardai are hunting for a prisoner who escaped from custody last night while being transported from a Dublin court to Cork prison.