‘Inhumane’ conditions in Mountjoy Prison

SHOCKING details of “inhumane” conditions in Mountjoy Prison have been revealed by the Inspector of Prisons.

Judge Michael Reilly revealed that during one visit to the outdated Dublin jail, 680 men were imprisoned. He called for the prison population to be cut to 540 amid fears someone will be killed or injured due to chronic overcrowding. The intended capacity is 489.

He revealed one night he found 15 prisoners were accommodated in the reception area, with eight prisoners in one room, so he wrote to the Justice Department and the Irish Prison Service expressing his fear that “this practice could lead to possible serious injury or loss of life”.

Last night there were 604 prisoners in Mountjoy.

In his inspection report on the notorious Dublin jail, Judge Michael Reilly says:

- Prisoners in cramped cells have to share toilet buckets in front of each other (‘slopping out’).

- They can’t empty the buckets overnight, which usually are not covered.

- Inmates often pour the contents of the buckets into bins on the landings.

- Liquid leaks from the bins onto the landing and elsewhere in the prison when being brought away.

- Some cells contain soiled mattresses.

- Cockroaches and mice are a problem in certain cells.

“I have witnessed seven prisoners sharing a four-man cell where the sanitary requirements were met by three buckets,” said the judge. “I have witnessed three prisoners sharing a cell and sharing the same ‘slop out’ bucket. This amounts to inhuman and degrading treatment.

“Prisoners are obliged to eat their meals in their cells. For prisoners in single cells this happens within feet of their ‘slop out’ buckets but where prisoners are accommodated in multiple occupancy cells the position is far worse.”

Judge Reilly said all 371 cells in the main block of the prison don’t have in-cell sanitation.

He said these cells are designed to accommodate 391 inmates, but that last February 521 inmates were stuffed into the cells.

He said the total design capacity of the prison was 489, but the bed capacity cited by the Prison Service was 573.

He said during February and March the actual number in custody was between 660 and 680.

The problem of overcrowding was so serious that many inmates had to sleep on mattresses, in shower rooms or other unsuitable rooms.

He said there were around 100 protection prisoners – gang members or inmates under threat – and around 20 vulnerable prisoners with mental health issues.

Judge Reilly said the prison did not provide safe and secure custody for prisoners and that it was questionable whether it provided a safe environment for prison officers.

He accepted, however, that “enormous strides” had been taken to improve healthcare and the standards of workshops.