New prison designed with view to expansion

THE tender documents reveal that the new prison intended to replace Mountjoy, at Thornton Hall in north Co Dublin, will house at least 1,200 inmates — men, women and juveniles — when it opens in 2010.

It will be designed to allow for easy extension should the need arise in the future.

According to the documents, those tendering for the new prison will design, build, finance and maintain the facility. The maintenance contract will run for up to 35 years.

In Mountjoy at present, there are about 900 inmates.

Overcrowding has become a major problem in recent years and the ‘revolving door’ means that every week approximately 50 new prisoners arrive and many are released within days (those with six-month sentences or less, I am reliably informed).

During a recent visit to Mounjoy I was told by staff members that their greatest nightmare was the prospect of the officer in charge of some large Garda station doing a ‘spring clean’ of the numerous outstanding arrest warrants in the filing cabinets.

Will Thornton Hall be overcrowded the day it opens?

Will the huge overtime prisoner escort bill really be reduced when the court is located near the prison even though the State must recruit more officers to cater for the real (but currently suppressed) demand for more prison spaces?

John McDermott

Puerto Rico

Gran Canaria

Spain