Prison security - Budgies in jail is almost laughable

THE discovery of not just one but two budgies in the country’s maximum security prison would be laughable if the underlying situation was not so serious.

It has long been suspected that prisoners, including hardened criminals, have been using mobile phones to run their business from jail, a suggestion corroborated by the discovery of an astonishing array of contraband in Portlaoise Prison.

An investigation is under way into how an inmate was able to contact RTÉ’s Liveline programme from his prison cell to launch an attack on a journalist.