Ghettoes must be dismantled, warns prison governor

CITIES and towns which house large numbers of socially excluded people in designated areas will end up sharing the problems being experienced in Limerick, a prison boss has warned.

Mountjoy prison governor John Lonergan said ghettos must be dismantled if the next generation is to have hope of leading a normal life.

Mixed housing and more education and parenting programmes for disadvantaged families is essential, if a new wave of serious young offending is to end, he added.

“I could have predicted what is happening in Limerick. When you dump people into housing estates and push the same class of people in there, its fertile ground for thugs,” he said as he addressed the Association of Principals of Vocational Schools and Community Colleges conference in Kilkenny. “Its all about control of drugs, money and crime. They dominate and control. Many of them are going to be in and out of jail continuously over the next 15 years. We have to start by looking at housing as the key way to tackle this.

“We also have to look at parenting. Many of these people come from dysfunctional homes where two or three children are from two or three different fathers. Parents are also unable to parent and there is no community either. Education is vital, but a lot of people don’t have value in it and drop out at 14 or 15. There is no short-term solution, it is a long-term visionary thing. We have to get in there and start dismantling these ghettos. It is no coincidence that 75% of Dublin-born prisoners come from six inner city pockets. The new place is going to be West Dublin.”