‘New site solution right under our noses’

MICHAEL Donnellan runs his fingers across computer printouts and architectural drawings of the new Cork Prison.

The head of the prison service points out everything the current Dickensian prison does not have: blocks of modern cells with toilets and showers, an actual perimeter wall and a proper visitors’ centre.

The new prison also has a garden for visits, a large modern gym, two sizeable courtyard recreation areas and a horticultural garden for inmates.