Plan for high support unit at St Pat’s

A vulnerable persons unit will be set up in St Patrick’s Institution after last month’s damning report by the Inspector of Prisons.

Judge Michael Reilly said it was “of the utmost urgency” that a high support unit be established in the detention centre for young offenders.

He said such a unit should be “a dedicated facility for prisoners in an acute disturbed phase of serious mental illness or for those requiring increased observation for physical illness”.