Justice minister: New Cork prison not too plush for inmates

The Justice Minister has rejected suggestions the new Cork Prison — with in-cell TVs, gyms, a garden, and family-friendly visiting rooms — is too plush for inmates.

Frances Fitzgerald was speaking yesterday at the formal opening of the €44m jail which became fully operational last February.

She defended improvements, including the ending of prisoners slopping out, compared to the former Victorian-era Cork Prison where just nine of its 140-plus cells had toilets, and which was described by prison governor Pat Dawson, as like a “pressure cooker” on inmates and staff.