Cloverhill Prison staff muting emergency calls from inmates 'deeply concerning', inspector says

Chief Inspector of Prisons Mark Kelly wrote in the report that 'extensive evidence of interference' with the alarm systems by prison officers was found on six landings at Cloverhill during the inspection. Picture: Leah Farrell/ RollingNews.ie

An official investigation has uncovered “extensive evidence” of staff interfering with in-cell alarm systems at Cloverhill Prison to automatically mute emergency calls from inmates.

Inspections found tape and pieces of card had been used to hold down mute buttons throughout the prison, so alarms activated by inmates in cells would make no sound.

This posed a “serious risk to the safety and wellbeing of prisoners” at the facility, according to the Office of the Inspector of Prisons.

There were “numerous instances” of mute buttons being tampered with in class offices at the prison, including in the high-support unit, which caters for vulnerable or mentally ill inmates.

Photos in a report by the inspector, which was published by the Department of Justice, show small pieces of card used to wedge buttons so alarms are automatically muted.

An audit of the cell call system in December 2024 found it was “basic”, and lacked the capability to log or track alarm activations. There was also no queuing or stacking system in the event a number of cells activated the alarm simultaneously.

Chief Inspector of Prisons Mark Kelly wrote in the report that “extensive evidence of interference” with the alarm systems by prison officers was found on six landings at Cloverhill during the inspection.

“This practice, evident throughout the prison, implies that prison officers were not responding to calls and that [assistant chief officers] were not overseeing the system,” he added.

The report also highlighted overcrowding at Cloverhill Prison, which was at 121% capacity at the time of the inspection, with 72 inmates accommodated on mattresses placed on cell floors.

Mr Kelly said the majority of recommendations made by the Office of the Inspector of Prisons following an inspection in 2023 had yet to be implemented by the time of its follow-up inspection in 2024. 

He said the living conditions of most prisoners were “degrading”.

The report found inmates were given only one towel a week, and some had fashioned makeshift pillows using their own clothes due to a lack of bedding materials.

He claimed holding people in overcrowded and degrading conditions for 22 hours a day was creating “a breeding ground for violence and generating a risk to life”. 

Mr Kelly said the Office of the Inspector of Prisons would continue to monitor the “deeply concerning situation” at Cloverhill.