Fr Peter McVerry: Time for 'action, not talk' on mental illness and prisons

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Leading homelessness campaigner Fr Peter McVerry has called for "action, not talk" following a highly critical report by a European torture watchdog of rising numbers of homeless people with psychiatric illnesses “languishing” in prisons.

Responding to the inspection report of the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), the Irish Prison Service said there is an “urgent need” to improve services to prisoners with mental illnesses.