Tributes paid as governor of Mountjoy retires

ONE of the country’s longest serving and most outspoken prison governors, John Lonergan, last night marked his retirement, warning that he first raised overcrowding issues at the jail 25 years ago.

The Mountjoy Prison governor, who ends his 42-year career next month, said he accepted some years ago that inmates are always going to be at the bottom of the social ladder.

He said he served his time in the prisons under the philosophy – do what you can on a human level.