Minister says old Cork prison site could be used to extend new jail

On a visit to the 'new' jail which opened in 2017 Jim O’Callaghan said overcrowding is making prison an unsafe place to work for officers

The entrance to the old Victorian-era Cork prison on Rathmore Road which has lain vacant for eight years. File picture: Cillian Kelly

The justice minister says the old Cork prison site, which has lain vacant for eight years, should be used to facilitate an extension of the city's new jail.

Jim O’Callaghan was speaking in Cork on Friday after visiting the ‘new’ €45m 296-bed capacity jail which opened in 2017 but which has been struggling with overcrowding for the last three years.

The Irish Examiner reported two weeks ago how the facility on the Rathmore Road, built to replace the Victorian-era prison nearby, has seen a 25% increase in its daily ‘in custody’ figures in the last five years.

By 2020, it had a daily average ‘in custody rate’ of 271 inmates.

The number dropped slightly during the covid years, to 262 by 2022, but it has been rising steadily since, to 306 in 2023 and to 335 in 2024.

The prison’s annual committal rates have also increased — from 873 in 2020 to 985 in 2024.

The figures were released by the Department of Justice in response to a question from Cork North Central Fianna Fáil TD Padraig O’Sullivan, who said the statistics, coupled with recent statistics on overcrowding and how that contributes to attacks on prison officers, underline the need for urgent action on increasing prison capacity in the region.

“It is clear from the figures that the prison population is increasing,” he said.

The more overcrowding there is, the more attacks there are on prison officers, making the prison an unsafe place to work, and that is unacceptable.

After visiting the jail on Friday, Mr O’Callaghan described his visit as “useful”, and the facility itself as “a commendable prison”.

He accepted there is a problem with overcrowding but said Lithuania’s justice minister had chosen to visit the jail on Friday as part of his visit to Ireland to examine aspects of our justice system.

“I met him yesterday (Thursday) and one of the reasons he said he was coming to Ireland was he was so impressed with Irish penal policy,” he said.

“Irish people might have a different view, but sometimes we need to reflect on the fact that we do things well in Ireland as well.

More prison spaces needed to tackle overcrowding

“We have an overcrowding crisis in the prisons. We need more prison spaces,” Mr O’Callaghan said.

“The old Cork prison site is land that we own and I would like to see it used for an extension of Cork prison in the future.” 

The Irish Prison Service (IPS) has said the old prison building is in a poor physical state and unsuitable for use in its current form.

Engineering consultants carried out a detailed assessment of the facility in 2023 and provided a feasibility report to the IPS with various options for its use.

The IPS said it is considering that draft report, with future consultations with the department of justice required if viable options are to be progressed.

A report from the prison overcrowding response group last June led to a number of initiatives designed to ease overcrowding, and to the setting up of a working group to consider prison capacity needs up to 2035.