Prison chiefs: Crime gangs do not rule our jails

Prison chiefs are struggling to deal with as many as 22 criminal factions in individual jails — but reject claims by prison officers they are losing control to gangs.

The head of the Irish Prison Service (IPS) said they were now “more on top” of the problem than they ever were.

Director general Michael Donnellan also described as “intolerable” attacks by inmates on prison officers, including one on Wednesday in which an officer in Dublin’s Cloverhill Prison was slashed in the face and arms with a razor by a prisoner.