Bishops: Parts of super-prison plans disturbing
After its June general meeting the Irish Bishop’s Conference criticised the decision to move Mountjoy women’s prison [the Dóchas Centre] and the Central Mental Hospital to the Thornton Hall prison site.
It said the size and location of the Dóchas Centre was ideal and the Government should be looking to reduce the number of female prisoners instead of increasing capacity of prisons to house them.
“Even if there is an intention to retain the present design features of the Dóchas Centre in Thornton Hall, the fact is that the new prison is planned to be almost twice as large as the existing one.
“This proposed increase in the capacity of the Dóchas Centre is one of the most disturbing features of the proposals in relation to Thornton Hall,” the conference report said.
The conference said the women’s prison in Mountjoy had a separate entrance and it was designed to allow a small number of women live in house-style cells which had domestic facilities.
It said the centre’s location in the heart of Dublin’s north inner-city allowed easy access to hospital facilities, which was important because of special healthcare needs of female prisoners.
The plan to move the Dóchas Centre to the north Dublin complex was criticised by Fr Tony O’Riordan of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice in May.
At the time he said the desire to increase its capacity from 85 to 170 places was being done without any examination or understanding of the effect imprisonment had on women.
The Bishops’ Conference also said the proposal to move the Central Mental Hospital to a site adjoining the Thornton Hall complex would stigmatise patients.
“Bishops believe that co-locating the Central Mental Hospital with Thornton Hall is not in the best interests of patients, further increases the stigma associated with mental illness and impedes the rehabilitation of patients.
“It is contrary to the Government’s stated policy on mental health. Bishops call on the Government to revisit this decision,” said the bishops’ statement.
Three weeks ago Justice Minister Dermot Ahern published an assessment report on the Thornton Hall plan. He said he supported the plan as it would help bring the country’s prison service in line with the best international standards.
