Prison overcrowding allows bullies to thrive, conference hears

The return of overcrowding in Irish prisons is creating an atmosphere for the “bully to thrive” and to pressurise vulnerable inmates to smuggle drugs and weapons, according to prison officers.

Speaking at the start of the annual conference of the Prison Officers’ Association in Sligo, president Tony Power said figures show that prison numbers have risen from 3,745 in April 2017, to 3,890 a year later and to 4,049 in April 2019.