An end to slopping out is well overdue

The impending abolition of the Dickensian practice of slopping out in Irish prisons is long overdue.

The question that has to be asked is why in Mountjoy jail, for instance, where prisoners have been slopping out since 1850, has it taken until now to rid the penal system of this demeaning daily routine.

No doubt, the answer comes down to a question of cost. But it also entails an archaic attitude of mind in officialdom, a belief that prisoners were to be punished at all times as a reminder that crime does not pay. Unless, of course, one happened to wear a white collar.

Though it will finally be eliminated from Mountjoy in September, regrettably, it will take another three years to bring this inhumane and unhygienic practice to an end in every prison in the country. After 163 years, it is something to be welcomed.