Three Mountjoy inmates forced to share single cell

UP to three inmates are being crammed into single cells in Mountjoy to allow for the refurbishment of one of the wings in the prison.

All 130-140 inmates in the C wing of Mountjoy have been transferred out, with around 70 prisoners packed into the D wing, which already had around 140 inmates sleeping in its 115 single cells.

The prisoners are locked into their cells, measuring 12x8 foot, overnight for over 12 hours and have to urinate and defecate into pots in front of each other, with minimal ventilation.

Prison officers said that, particularly with the summer and warmer nights ahead, “all the ingredients are there” for violence between inmates and between prisoners and prison officers.

The refurbished C wing — which will have in-cell sanitation in each cell — will not be completed until August.

While welcoming the refurbishment, the POAdescribed as “atrociously bad” the decision to vacate the entire C wing and move its inmates all at once.

The association said the wing should have been emptied a landing at a time, meaning just 30-40 inmates would have been distributed at any one time.

“That’s would have had a controlled effect,” said the POA’s Jim Mitchell, “but putting 140 through — the system is not able to withstand that.

“The system is already seriously overcrowded, it can’t take that impact. It’s an atrociously bad decision by the IPS [Irish Prison Service].”

He said cramming more people into single cells “lends itself to trouble”. He said, with the summer ahead, “all the ingredients” were there for violence.

Mr Mitchell claimed the decision to vacate the entire block was made by the building section of the IPS and it didn’t consult with the operations section as to how to house the inmates.

“To the best of our knowledge, it was done without the imprimatur of the operations division, which has direct responsibility for distributing prisoners through the system. Theleft hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.”

He said the POA “fully supports” the decision to refurbish cells in Mountjoy, but said it should be done in consultation with all relevant parties. He said the POA has raised the issue with Justice Minister Alan Shatter and IPS management.

One experienced officer in Mountjoy said: “Prisoners are locked up for 16 hours. The longest period is 7.30pm to 8.15am. You have three in a cell, they defecate in a pot, that remains with them until the morning.

“It’s not too bad now, it’s not that hot at night, but that’s beginning to kick in. It will only be rectified when lives are lost, then we’ll have big inquiries.”

He said some things had improved in the prison, including the “time and effort” put into cleaning.

The IPS declined to answer questions on what it said were “operational issues”, apart to confirm that the refurbishment project in C wing should be finished by the end of the summer.

Prison sources said that not all of the 115 cells in D wing are doubled up, mainly due to the nature of the prisoners in some of them, who are kept on their own.