Let’s be honest about why we are failing to rehabilitate prisoners

THIS year, instead of going to see A Christmas Carol at the Gate Theatre, I took my seasonal dose of Dickens by visiting Mountjoy men’s prison.

It's hard to believe such places exist in the 21st century. The B-wing of the prison, where last week prisoners staged a "dirty protest" by emptying their chamber pots out onto the corridors, is especially grim. "B base", as the lowest floor is called, is home to prisoners who have to be segregated for their own protection, generally because they've had run-ins with drug dealers within the "Joy".

The first thing you notice as you look around these cells is the enormous volume of pornographic posters plastering the walls. The cells are tiny and although Mountjoy is no longer as overcrowded as it was a number of years ago, several prisoners at a time still inhabit some cells. But more disturbing than the miniature cells and the depressing world conjured up by the pornographic posters is the absence of proper sanitation.