Super prison group passed site same day it heard of it

A COMMITTEE appointed to decide the location of a new super prison and central mental hospital only heard of the agreed site on the day the decision was made, just a week before Justice Minister Michael McDowell made his announcement.

The committee picked the 150-acre site at Thornton in north Co Dublin following a meeting on January 18. The seven-member group was appointed in July of last year.

The land was bought for just under €30 million, €200,000 an acre.

No reference appears to have been made to the Central Mental Hospital during the meetings of the committee, made up of civil servants, a prison governor and a Health Services Executive general manager.

The group was named the Mountjoy Complex Replacement Site Committee.

Mental health professionals have denounced the plan to build a prison on the same site as a mental hospital, though the Government claims they will be separate.

Residents close to the proposed site have vowed to fight the plan.

Legal action has already started. Opposition politicians have questioned the purchase.

Minutes from the meetings reveal the decision to recommend the Thornton site was made on the same day the committee first heard of the site. It was not one of 31 originally submitted. Only five of the seven members of the committee were in attendance.

After hearing of difficulties over a preferred €31.5m site at nearby Coolquay the property expert advising the committee mentioned Thornton.

The committee was told “details of an available site, Thornton, in the same area, were submitted to the Irish Prison Service by an auctioneer/agent, before Christmas”, the minutes read. Property expert Ronan Webster inspected the site and arranged for a survey to be carried out.

After a discussion, the committee recommended its purchase.

Solicitor Ciaran Lawlor, who represents an objector, was surprised at the minutes, saying they were short and terse with limited information.