Inmates ‘crammed’ into Mountjoy

THE number of prisoners crammed into Mountjoy jail reached a new high yesterday, less than a day after the collapse of plans for a “super prison” at Thornton Hall.

Prison sources said there were 678 inmates in Mountjoy yesterday morning. This is 128 (or 20%) higher than the official bed capacity quoted by the Irish Prison Service and 228 (50%) higher than design capacity quoted by the Prison Officers’ Association.

The association said the prison service has increased the capacity by cramming bunk beds into single cells in the Victorian prison, which is largely without toilets, forcing inmates to “slop out” in front of each other.

Numbers in Mountjoy have risen from, on average, 450 in 2005, to 540 in 2007, and to between 550-580 this year.

Thornton Hall was proposed in 2005 by then justice minister Michael McDowell as a replacement to the Mountjoy Prison complex. He said the prison – which would house a minimum of 1,400 and a possible maximum of 2,200 – would be completed within five to seven years.

On Tuesday, the service announced it had “broken off negotiations” with the Léargas Consortium, the preferred bidder to build Thornton Hall under a Public Private Partnership.

One prison source in Mountjoy said its numbers were “constantly going up” and that “nothing was being done” to address the chronic overcrowding.

“Our lads are on their knees trying to get the basics done. There’s no frills, no nothing, they’re just trying to bed down people,” he said.

He predicted further tensions in the prison, which has seen one major riot and one minor riot since July 2008.

A separate prison source agreed: “What the future holds for Mountjoy largely depends on whether or not prisoners riot. If they do, we will not hold the place.

“You always have minor incidents. Even if it’s a stabbing, they are individual incidents. But there has been an increase in co-ordinated non-minor incidents, involving three, four, five inmates. That’s disturbing.”

He said that “every day” people were sleeping on mattresses and in small holding cells, which have no natural light or ventilation.

It is understood the Inspector of Prisons has been in the prison within the last week.

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said yesterday he was drawing up plans for a new prison proposal, which might be “scaled down”. He said Thornton was a “long-term” solution and that 400 extra spaces had been built, which would come on stream towards the end of the year and should help alleviate overcrowding.

Last March, the prison service said that due to “serious pressure” it had doubled up more cells in Mountjoy and four other prisons providing 180 spaces. A further 200 spaces were being created by doubling up even more cells.

The Irish Penal Reform Trust welcomed the Government’s decision on Thornton and said there should be a move away from building prisons towards crime prevention and alternatives to custody.