Prisoners in quarantine do not have access to showers for up to two weeks

The denial of showering facilities 'is a question of human dignity, and the physical and mental wellbeing of men and women in prison,' said Fíona Ní Chinnéide, the head of the Penal Reform Trust. Picture: Derek Speirs/IPRT/PA Wire

Quarantined prisoners at Mountjoy prison are not being permitted access to showers for the length of their stay in a quarantine location, a period which can last up to 14 days.

Access to showers is being denied on the basis that it poses a risk to other prisoners and staff at the prison.

A prisoners' rights organisation has criticised the conditions in which the prisoners quarantining under Covid-19 regulations are being detained in Mountjoy prison. 

The Irish Examiner has learned that prisoners in quarantine in Mountjoy are being denied any access to showers for the length of their stay in the quarantine location. Mountjoy is a committal prison, to which prisoners are remanded directly by the courts.

Prisoners in Mountjoy Prison who have to undergo quarantine do not have access to showers for the duration of that process. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

The area set aside for quarantine, which can typically last up to two weeks, is the former St Patrick’s institution for juvenile offenders. Two locations within the units have been set aside for the purpose. Currently, there are 16 prisoners in quarantine in Mountjoy.

The Irish Prison Service (IPS) confirmed that those prisoners in quarantine are not being given access to showers as “showering while in quarantine is not feasible due to the high risk it poses to prisoners and staff.” 

The cells do facilitate in-cell sanitation, and prisoners have access to hot water and soap.

“All prisoners confined to their cell for the purpose of quarantine have access to hot water and soap to maintain adequate hygiene,” a spokesperson for the IPS said. 

The IPS states that the standards are in line with those set out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT).

However, the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) says taking the narrowest view possible of the CPT guidance on soap and water is not acceptable.

'Dignity and wellbeing'

“This is a question of human dignity, and the physical and mental wellbeing of men and women in prison,” said Fíona Ní Chinnéide, the executive director of the IPRT. 

“The goal should be single-cell accommodation for everyone with access to daily showers and daily exercise. 

"If this goal cannot be met, then the prison population has to be reduced. Experience from March 2020 is that a reduction can be achieved without risking public safety.”