Justice minister to meet with local residents ahead of planned extension of Cork Prison

One local resident said she wanted to meet the minister in her home so he could see how her family life was being impacted by living next door to the current prison, with her garden walls being used by people to throw drugs into the prison yard

The minister 'needs to hear directly from the people of The Glen about the impact the existing prison and the prison expansion will have on their community'.

The justice minister says he will meet with local groups living near Cork Prison ahead of the planned extension of the old jail to boost capacity.

Preparations are already being made for a meeting between Jim O’Callaghan and representatives of a local project at the Glen Resource Centre, which provides training for inmates, former prisoners, and other groups. 

The meeting is being organised following an approach to the minister by local Fianna Fáil TD Pádraig O’Sullivan. 

Mr O’Sullivan said the aim of the meeting was to expand the training service that is already in place.

Mr O’Callaghan also told Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould in the Dáil he would listen to local people in relation to plans to develop the former Cork Prison on Rathmore Road into an extension to the current prison. 

The current facility in Cork is overcrowded, with the prison system across the country at 114% capacity.

The development of the former jail into an extension of the new prison has been met with concern by locals, while Cork City Council voted last month to add the old building to the Register of Protected Structures.

Demolition of the former prison is being planned, ahead of development of an extension to accommodate a further 230 male and 100 female inmates.

Mr O’Callaghan told Mr Gould last week: “I know that Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan wants me to meet local groups on what is happening there, and I will indeed do that. 

"We do not need to turn this into an issue of crisis or conflict. I will listen to what local people have to say in respect of it, and it is not incompatible with ensuring that we get a prison developed.” 

One local resident said she wanted to meet the minister in her home so he could see how her family life was being impacted by living next door to the current prison. 

She claims the walls of her garden have been used by people to throw drugs into the prison yard, while relatives and friends of inmates regularly turn up at her garden to have conversations with inmates through their cell windows.

Mr Gould said: “The minister has now given a commitment to meet with local residents. I would hope that can be arranged quickly. 

"He needs to hear directly from the people of The Glen about the impact the existing prison and the prison expansion will have on their community.

“The proposal is for an additional 330 prison beds in this small community. This will mean that more than 10% of the overall population of The Glen will be made up of people in prison. How can that be acceptable?”