Minister had visited Mountjoy previously

YOUR columnist Pat Brosnan (Irish Examiner, December 9) expressed surprise that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform was only now paying his first visit to Mountjoy.

On the contrary, and appropriately given that it is one of the largest prisons in the Irish system, the minister visited Mountjoy when he was Attorney General and as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in July 2003.

He consistently expressed his concern at the conditions in which disturbed prisoners were being kept, albeit for short periods. He directed that the old padded cells were to be phased out of use in Irish prisons.