‘Certainly, my belief is that prisons do work’

BRIAN PURCELL has no doubt prisons work. And contrary to what critics say, he insists they can, and do, rehabilitate.

As director general of the Prison Service, he said the system will undergo major reform in the next five years, largely due to a massive prison building programme.

The flagship is Thornton Hall, a so-called “super prison” complex in north Dublin. It will house 1,400 prisoners, with the capacity, if needed in the future, to take 2,200 inmates.