Officers’ lives ‘ruined by prison closures’

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.

Some officers have to drive up to three hours each way since their transfers to prisons in Limerick and Portlaoise, the POA said.

The POA, which led a protest of 100 prison officers and their families at the Dáil yesterday, said it was a bullying tactic by Justice Minister Michael McDowell to force them to accept the prison overtime deal.