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THREE DECADES AGO, Justice Minister Michael Noonan changed the prison rules to allow doubling up in jail cells.
Today, some prisoners share rooms with as many as three other inmates.
The practice has been deemed troublesome by human rights advocates.
“You’re seeing a worrying development here,” says the Irish Penal Reform Trust’s executive director Liam Herrick.
“Doubling up is being built into capacity numbers at prisons,” he explained. “But while there might be capacity in terms of cells, there are not enough services, education and training.”
As of October 2013, there were 4,086 prisoners in the Irish system occupying just over 3,000 cells. Of those, 1,799 prisoners were accommodated in single cells, while 1,756 sleep in double cells. Meanwhile, 399 inmates share cells with two other people, while at least 120 men are kept in cells with four or more prisoners.
The practice of putting more than one prisoner in a cell began long before the 1980s but was formally sanctioned by the government from 1983 following a court case.
A Cork prisoner took his objection to being held in a cell with another man to the State’s courthouses. The practice of doubling-up had to be abandoned or the existing rule changed, Noonan told the Taoiseach’s department at the time.
They decided to amend the rules to suit the practice of the time.
“There was a view at the time that the move was the single-most negative and detrimental developments to the system,” added Herrick.
At the time, former governor at Mountjoy John Lonergan was vocal in his strong opposition.
More recently, he wrote in the Irish Times that doubling-up was a complete reversal of earlier best practice.
“Back in the mid-1800s, it became the established standard in England and Ireland that the safest and most secure way of ensuring the well-being and safety of the vast majority of prisoners was to accommodate them singly in single cells. As recently as the 1970s if a prison officer allowed two prisoners to share a cell he would be in serious trouble with the prison authorities,” he wrote.
According to experts, putting the practice on a statutory footing allowed the overcrowding problem to become far worse.
Herrick singled out Cork as a particular problem spot.
“The accepted standard at Mountjoy now,” he said, “is single cells. But not in Cork. They are planning for doubling up. It is a question of logistics because the site is very small. If they were only to have single cells, then the prison would not be economically viable.”
Although other countries also continue with doubling-up, Herrick believes the Irish situation is exacerbated by the continuing problem of slopping out, longer lockup times and the fact that inmates often eat their meals in their cells.
“The combination of these can lead to tension, stress and undermine a person’s personal space and privacy.”
Irish Prison Service, October 2013
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Couldn’t care less. If you don’t want to share a prison cell well don’t get yourself put in prison in the first place.
Well said, I couldn’t agree more.
Great! Prison is not intended to be a catered holiday camp complete with entertainment. Hard labour should mean just that and not an opportunity to attend criminal university and refine your skills, make contacts and run your empire from a cell. Not talking of Devil’s Island but a more stringent regime than we have at the moment…the poor likkle darlings.
As a Sherrif in Arizona said,
“It’s not a hotel, if you don’t like it, don’t come back!”
Spot on Jason, if they were packed in like a tin of sardines I wouldn’t give a hoot, no one but absolute subhumans ends up in prison
‘Subhumans’ ? It is amazing that someone as stupid as you actually learnt to read and write.If you took the time to consider who is jailed and why you can be jailed ,you may,though I doubt,reconsider your statement.Just a little man with a silly childish image of the big world.You should be ashamed of yourself for making such a statement.I suppose you could plead insanity,I will however let you away with an I am stupid plea.(Christ! Why do I bother?)
Subhumans and garlic smugglers
Subhumans and garlic smugglers and home invaders.
Prison is intended to be a punishment for crimes against society. Not a holiday camp as some of the bleeding heart do gooders would have you believe
Semi private V Private a first world problem in health care also.
But why should the tax-payers foot the bill. The offenders should be paying towards the prison system, and assets seized to do so. Break the law, but take the consequences. Victims of crime need a lot more support, and again the perpetrators should be billed.
Are we expected to have sympathy for those who wreck our society?
Having considered the matter I find that I am not worried by this at all
why does it never come up that the cost of keeping these “people” is worrying? If it would be cheaper to house them 40 to a wooden hut on a west coast Island so that they could serve a real sentence then I’d be for it. paying 80 grand a year for the privilege is just another crime not to mention the cost of prosecuting the same individual 50 plus times which again is a criminal appropriation for the benefit of the legal “profession”
Why don’t the people who did this report look into overcrowding in hospitals? I’m far more worried about all the sick and elderly piled on top of each other on trollies with nowhere to go! And a lot of hospitals still have to use commodes in wards because of lack of toilet facilities close enough To bring a person who struggles to walk.
Well said Brendan.
What’s worrying about this? Confused !
Aw bless em the poor mites.
Irish jails are full of foreigner criminals being wined and dined at the expense of whoever.
And??? Come on the bleeding hearts with the ‘won’t somebody think of the children’ line. Prison is meant to be punishment not a holiday camp.
A lot of bum bum must be going on.
Who’s gives a shit there still luxury hotels compared to some other countries out there. Prison should be an awful place to go like the phrase goes don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time
Who cares.
Just shows that the government are not interested in rehabilitation for prisoners. Ending up in prison, for the most part, can be blamed on childhood/teen trauma. This is relatively easy to fix but the right conditions must be there.
Seems to me that sharing a cell with 3 others will make a young person into an expert criminal. With a single cell, no one has to know that a prisoner is availing of councelling plus trhe prisoner can do his/her councelling homework in his cell without being rediculed by his peers.
Plus it’s pretty hard to have a peddle and crank with three lads looking at you.
Are you the real Batty Boy
I can only have one while people are watching : )
Solitary confinement will solve the problem after those in for not paying fines for TV etc are released.
A nothing topic. It’s so easy to not end up in prison, been doing it all my life. Conditions should be even worse, more deterring.
No sympathy, they’re not in there for a holiday, they cost too much as it is to house, feed them, they even get free health care, education and use of a gym, they’re animals!
People in prison are there by choice. What about all the people in hospital lying on trollies and suffering due to shortage of nursing staff
Doubling up is a great idea. It’s more efficient and it has a calming effect on the prisoners. Less screaming and disruptive behavior.
If I was designing a prison. I’d make cells really massive. Have no furniture in them at all, just blankets on the floor. No shoes would be allowed, just simple uniforms. Each cell would hold 40 prisoners, with just enough room for each inmate to lie flat down with shower and toilet facilities in a connecting room. Several plasma TV’s all showing the same channel would be positioned high up out of reach of the inmates but at an angle which would encourage inmates to lie down while watching. Food would be delivered twice a day in bulk to each cell and the prisoners themselves would distribute it between them creating a sense of community or a pecking order within each cell which will preoccupy the minds of most inmates. This will create order without the need of prison officers being ever present. They can be left alone. It’s all about psychology.
ahhh didums ! did the nasty warder make them share a cell and empty a bucket ? well its your own fault for committing crime then! sick and tired of these bleding heart organisations like irish penel reform trust (i wonder how much liam herrick and the rest of his board are screwing the ordinary joe for) .
what about a bit of concern for those who are the victims of these little scroats crimes? when do they get a fair crack of the whip?. only last week the journal reported that up to 50% of those convicted reoffend within 1 year of being reliesed, if thats the case they know what to expect dont they!.
there are people in this country who have never commited a crime in their lives and are struggling to survive the winter, having to make decisions between heating their home or having a hot meal , meanwhile these ‘poor prisoners’ are warm and well fed. no wonder half of them go back inside !
remember that old saying “if you cant do the time ,don’t do the crime”. and please none of this bull about them being classed as ‘ill’ because their adicts, they make a choice to use drugs and therefore have to suffer the consequenses.
Maby it’s a sine to put them out working like the chain gangs in America and swap the bed, a day and night shift in the bed
Has anyone really asked the question as to why we have prisoners in the first place? Not saying that we don’t need to protect society from undesirable elements, but did you ever research the majority of crime people are actually serving jail time for. You will be very surprised.
Coom on. do you seriously expect people to go and research why prisoners are in jail? My guess would be that they broke the law and deserve to be there.
That is a very short sighted answer if we want to stop crime & reduce prision populations then we need to find out why people brake the law. Young offenders in particular could be helped by this research & eventually we could prevent certian types of crime all together
Cop on Rachael
Many of these are 4th generation criminals, it’s a career choice for them.
It’s almost genetic in a lot of cases.
More research means paying another academic to tell the ordinary people of Ireland someone’s viewpoint!
ack in the 1800′s there was no crime of failing to buy a TV licence or other soft crimes that can land you in jail these days.
They couldn’t afford it that’s why they had TVs back then!
*no TVs
What a relief to hear one intelligent comment! A lot of people shouldnt be there at all, should do community service for whatever minor ‘crime’ such as no tv licence, this would bring benefit, no cost to the taxpayer. And there are a great many people who deserve to be in jail but arent, instead they are in top paying jobs. What a deluded view of society to think that all the baddies get locked up by the goodies, deserving what they get while some of the smug contributors on this piece clap themselves on the back for being so perfect. Its Victorian, but I suppose that makes me a softie, not someone who just tries to see the bigger picture
noirin, a report on the journal a couple of weeks back said that 50% of those reliesed early from prison re offended with in 1 year , also most of those who are ‘sent to prison’ for nonpayment of tv licence or fines are usually reliesed the same day . as for community service some of them would only use it as an excuse to eye up their next lot of break-ins once the parole board lets them out. try reading the court pages of most local papers, theres a regular list, the same people coming before the courts time and again, racking up more appearences than hollywood superstar, they get more than enough chances before being sent to prison ,if they dont take the chances than its their tough luck.
no t.v’s to licence was there ! but you could go to jail for stealing a piece of bread or other food to feed your hungry children, you could go to jail for not being able to paying your debt’s, if that was still on the staturte books it would be 50 to a cell nowadays, or for sleeping rough (vagrency act) or begging and even for failing to follow the orders of the local clergy, they could have you locked up for whatever reason they wanted. so it was a lot easier to be imprisoned in the 1800′s than it is now.
Doesnt the fact that they repeatedly offend demonstrate that the system isnt working to stop crime? Not suggesting that we dont need prisons but we surely need to go back to the drawing board and find some way of making a difference. I make no apology for believing that inequality in society is in part responsible for many of the problems that lead to anti social behaviour and crime. As a society we have to look at the big picture and try to make it better so that we dont have youngsters involved with criminality from an early age so that they know no different. There are no perfect people and everyone makes mistakes. Some people will never want help and need to be incarcerated but we should make every effort to offer people alternatives. A lot less stereotyping and a lot more analyses based on research would be more useful.
What rubbish Noirín, blaming the system is easy. Take the responsibility off the perpetrators…Methinks you want to create more social workers to “mollycoddle” the crooks!
Future generations will condemn us for our short sighted futility in dealing with prisoners. If you want to keep society safe then why would you promote a system that has an increasing recidivism rate?
Batty ratty I commend you. You obviously have done your research. It’s nice to see someone who actually has an open mind.
A sure just release them all, don’t want to punish those for doing wrong now do we? Orwell could just check them into a fancy hotel with all the bells and whistles attached so they could enjoy themselves.
Its actually not Joe if your on the top bunk ! The four man cell is known in prison as the caravan , true story that .
these human rights people make me sick, couldn’t care less about the victims, but the criminals have to be treated properly!! why dont we just put the extra criminals in the westin or the shelbourne???
Ahhhh god love them!!! My heart bleeds!!!!!
It’s laughable – human rights advocates fighting for more plush surroundings for inmates…people that have committed crimes against the state and humanity – some even for murder. One of the basic human rights is the right to life – some of these criminals have ignored this human right regarding other people.
Privatise it.
Wouldn’t privatizing prisons create an industry that has a financial interest in high crime rates?
david,
spot on,
check out the USAs private prison system. They get paid by cell occupancy and those cells are full of people who were caught with personal amounts of drugs.
Just go gay for the stay!!
Aaah give them en suite rooms with jacuzzi. My heart bleeds! If you were a victim of a lot of these thugs then maybe you would feel an underground dormitory would be good enough. What about all the families who paid big money in years gone by for boarding schools – how many were in those rooms? My rant for 2013
This is cruelty they are being treated like amimals I know Jimmy saville is a legend
The people in jail shouldn’t be allowed complain about sharing rooms, we’re throwing enough tax money for their food, heat and shelter (among other things). We shouldn’t be giving our hard earned cash to people who did awful enough things to be jailed in the first place so that they can have a room all to themselves.
It’s prison, not a hotel.
So what!
We treat our hospital patients with the same type of facilities, its only right that we treat our convicted criminals like you would at a dog pound… I’m sure its of great benefit to society when they get out! Come on people really.
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