Mick Clifford: Prison Service seems more concerned about PR than prisoners 

Chaplains reports from Irish prisons, which were submitted in March, have not been published under the spin that they may be in breach of GDPR, writes Mick Clifford

'The guiding principle within the IPS appears to be that nothing must emerge from the state’s prisons which would cause embarrassment or controversy for political masters.'

There are times when the Irish Prison Service (IPS) has all the characteristics of a public relations firm. Huge effort goes into presenting life in the State’s 11 prisons in a positive light. Sugared news segments are pitched at TV, radio, and newspaper outlets. Look at us, look how humane and efficient a system we run, is the conveyed message. Nothing else to see here, folks.

Then, when independent voices with no agenda to push step forward, they are smothered and silenced. So would appear to be the IPS approach to the annual reports of prison chaplains. Not just that, but a case can be posited that concerted efforts are being made to minimise the input of chaplains into the system by attacking not just their work, but also pay and conditions.