Prison reform - Governor’s advice must be heeded

THE public will be dismayed by the bombshell news that Ireland’s most senior and best-known prison official will be lost to the troubled system because of the severity of Government plans for jail reform.

More than any other public servant, Governor John Lonergan of Mountjoy jail has had remarkable success convincing popular opinion of the need for a radical overhaul of the Dickensian regime. As far as that goes, he is in agreement with Justice Minister Michael McDowell’s aim to reform the service.

But sharp differences of opinion have now emerged between them on how reforms should be put into effect at existing jails and also in new prisons like the €100 million replacement for Mountjoy on a greenfield site within a 25-mile radius of Dublin.