Prisoners sleep on mattresses as new €44m Cork Prison runs out of space

Mattresses have been used in the country’s newest jail because of a space shortage.

Sources told the Irish Examiner that prisoners have had to sleep on mattresses up to five times in recent weeks in Cork Prison, which opened in February 2016 at a cost of €44m.

Sources said mattresses were used in the committal area, which temporarily houses inmates on arrival, because there was no space on the main landings.