'We could be heading towards 6,000' inmates in Irish prisons after Easter court break

When numbers passed the 5,000 landmark in June 2024, Prison Officers’ Association deputy general secretary Gabriel Keaveney slammed the lack of planning by the Department of Justice and the Irish Prison Service (IPS)

Two years ago, the inspector of prisons, Mark Kelly, told the then government that the prison population — which had just exceeded 4,900 — was “many hundred in excess” of the number that could be safely held in prison.

Two months later, in May 2023, he sent an immediate action notification to then justice minister Helen McEntee over overcrowding and “degrading conditions” at Cloverhill Remand Prison.