Calls to cut prison numbers more to protect from Covid-19

Irish Penal Reform Trust executive director, Fíona Ní Chinnéide: “While much remains unknown about Covid-19, we do know that the virus will remain in the community for quite some time.”

Measures to reduce the prison population, including the granting of bail and continued early release, must be “ramped up” to uphold minimum human rights standards and protect prisons from Covid-19, penal reformers say.

The calls were made after a court ruled that a decision by prison authorities to keep an inmate in his cell for 24 hours a day was justified given the challenges faced by the Irish Prison Service in having so many prisoners ’’cocooning’’ or in isolation.