Report highlights ‘deplorable’ Mountjoy conditions

PRISONERS in Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison are living in deplorable conditions, a new report has found.

The city jail was slammed in the report that found the institution understaffed and overcrowded, often housing more than 400 inmates.

It also recorded no in-cell sanitation in the main prison cells, with prisoners regularly sleeping on mattresses on the floors of the cells.

“This is deplorable in 2005,” said the Mountjoy Prison Visiting Committee, who met 51 prisoners last year. “There is an urgent need for extra staffing.”

The visiting committee is an independent statutory watchdog to supervise the treatment of prisoners.

Opposition parties demanded a fresh enquiry into conditions at the prison.

The damming review came following the death of a second inmate in the jail within a month. A 38-year-old man was found hanging in a single cell early yesterday after been moved for his own protection.

Just weeks ago Gary Douch, 21, was beaten to death in a communal holding cell in front of other inmates. He had been moved for his own protection.

“This case seems to point to a gap in the facilities available in the prison. The State has a duty of care to protect all offenders in its penal institutions,” said Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O’Keefe.

The Irish Prison Service confirmed the latest fatality was observed just half an hour before he was found hanging at 3.30am. Despite attempts to resuscitate him, he was pronounced dead at the nearby Mater Hospital shortly after 4am.

The man, who was not considered to be at risk of taking his own life, was involved in a fight in the main jail yesterday evening. He was serving an 18-month sentence.

The committee also highlighted the seriousness of drugs within Mountjoy, the country’s largest methadone maintenance with 200 prisoners on maintenance. Recommendations were made for a sniffer dog, extra gardaí and screened visits.