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THERE ARE MEMBERS of 12 gangs currently behind bars in Irish prisons, with 18 different factions in Mountjoy alone.
Officers believe that it’s only a matter of time before the escalating gang warfare that is happening on the streets finds its way into prisons.
The Prison Officers’ Association discussed the issue at its annual conference in Athlone this week.
“We have already seen one instance where a leading gang figure was attacked and nearly savaged to death and three of our staff had to go in and rescue him,” POA president Stephen Delaney said.
Without the actions of the prison officers he would certainly have been killed.
Delaney is calling for the factions to be segregated as they are intimidating the other prisoners:
“It is operationally very difficult – there is no doubt about that, but we feel there is capacity among the prison state to cater for such individuals. It is vital these people are targeted and isolated for the protection of all within the prison.
Whether it is drugs, bullying or intimidation – the environment of the prison is affected by these gangland figures.
“These figures are very intelligent and clever people and many times they get other people to do their work.”
Ghettoising gangs
Director General of Irish Prison Service Michael Donnellan added:
“We have 12 gangs in our prison service which is made up of over 70 people in seven prison environments.
International studies show it’s not right to ghettoise gangs. It’s better to deal with them individually … because ghettoising of gangs causes radicalisation, causes a breakdown in law and order and causes no-go areas.
“So the kind of policy we are pursuing is absolutely the right policy and we know who they are – we are right on top of them. We are liaising with the gardaí weekly.”
Speaking about the 18 factions in Mountjoy alone, Donnellan said:
“In prison for the last 50 years and for the next 50 years – there will always be sub-groups. People will always gather together in subgroups in prison and there is always factions from localities, from different ethnic classes and for all sorts of issues.
We are now housing those gangs in prison and they are going to be with us for many a long day. So that’s the reality of the situation.
There is a ballot going on & this idiot compares their actions to a mutiny. How much is he on ?
@Peter.: Way to much. But hopefully he will be shown the door….
Mutiny isnt wrong. It is illegal for garda to stike and to even threaten strike action us inexcusable. Ive no issue new garda getting a raise but we all know the sgts and inspectors get paid very well nd these are the ones that will benefit most.
@Shawn O’Ceallaghan: What you fail to acknowledge, as Mr Duffy does is that the Gardaí had no other way to force the issue as they are excluded from all industrial relations mechanism and pay talks. I’d be interested to know what other methods you and Mr Duffy think the Gardaí should have engaged in considering the government have ignored them since the blue flu.
Why didn’t the Govt take legal action against this illegal and treasonous mutiny in the same way that the UK government reacted to the prison officers illegal strike. Hopefully the vote will go against accepting the deal so that Kenny and Co. will need to sort these people out. Remember the are paid a lot more than any other European police force.
No Kerry……..sadly he won’t. Edna has full confidence in him you see so the rest of us can go climb a hill
What the majority of the real economy, talk to their bosses and reach a settlement or find another job
Shaun, Restoration , that is the word , not a pay rise. Restoration of pay was promised by the Government as soon as the emergency was over, it is well over now. Have they any intention of ever restoring pay and pensions?
The emergency over! Have you heard of Brexit, Trumph. Do you not realise that the madness whereby the public service managed to wrangle their terms and conditions in the early 2000s were due to a property boom that nearly sunk this country. They are still way overpaid for what they do. Having said that I would maintain new entrants pay and cut the pay at the top of the scale … and introduce a defined contribution pension scheme across the entire public service.
@Peter.: the garda have not alone failed the country but also the people and their greed knows no bounds …
Are you blaming thePublic Service for the collapse as you call it.?. The Public Service suffered severe cuts to pay and large increases in contributions to their pension ? They played their part in getting us back on course and they did not whinge about that, also the retired Public Service also suffered greatly, many on modest pensions, and they too did not whinge. The Public Service Agreement was that when the Country recovered, wages would be Restored, it now seems that agreement means nothing to the Government, as they appear to be trying to wriggle out of what was agreed, RESTORATION of PAY and PENSIONS.
Have the garda the right to ballot ?…..I feel you should study the constitution before you go calling the man an idiot .
Harry, you haven’t a clue, the Gardai are expected to do a job that many of you would never consider. How many of You would want to be going to work at 10 pm tonight, tomorrow night and Sunday night and have to take abuse , verbal and physical and deal with serious RTAs , murders, suicide, domestic violence , and assaults. All that takes time, files have to be produced, that entails taken written statements, getting doctors reports, and loads of paperwork, all that has to be done, it doesn’t just happen. Gardai are snowed under with paperwork after one 10 hour shift, but they are expected to be out there again on the next shift. As P Flynn famously said on the Late Show one time ” try it sometime” .
Please point out the relevant legislation which shows a garda cannot strike
Nobody forced them to apply for or stay in the job, if they don’t like it then they can leave. The fact is that many people love police work hence the huge demand for these highly paid jobs.
OK, nobody forced them to join, the same can be said about any job, nobody forced anyone to do anything. But, the job of An Garda Siochana is different to almost any other job, only firemen, paramedics and Nurses and Doctors in hospitals face the same torment. If the Gardai were well paid they would not be masking noise. Along wit pay, they are one adequately funded as regards equipment , cars etc., compared to PSNI or British Police.
The only alternative to pay cuts was job cuts and the cuts should in fact have been bigger especially the pensions. Pay restoration might happen, the government is weak but it is not justified and will lead to fewer jobs worse service and more severe cuts in the future as well as unjustified taxes on the public sector which does not benefit from the clout that private sector employees have in this “democracy”. We need benchmarking against the averages in western Europe.
@ Shawn. Then why are they sleeping in their cars and getting supplements from Welfare.
@ jeremy. Thank heavens they didn’t listen to the likes of you, we would have had a hard time protecting ourselves.
You do not know the pressures that staff in other jobs face. Being stuck at a desk all day in not necessarily great fun. If you are in torment so are lots of others, tormented by not having a pension that is adequate or with boredom or with having to pay huge taxes to fund the unduly cushy terms and conditions wages and pensions of guards, teachers, prison officers, nurses and the rest of the public service including politicians.
Mr Duffy should not have retracted his comments. He should have stayed true to what he believed. A good case could definitely be made to support his comments, and he is definitely not the only citizen who holds them. We are in danger of becoming a politically correct dictatorship, where people are no longer allowed to speak their mind. This, in itself, is a very dangerous turn of events.
No such thing as free speech.
No such thing as free speech if you are supposed to hold a position of impartiality.
Has to go, no public service unions can have faith in his impartiality
Even though they did threaten mutiny…
Unions biggest drag on economy and society!
@Paul:the words of a well paid mé feiner
Have decent pay but nothing to write home about.
Just remember unions do little for those struggling moat in society. By in large just milking public sector.
Paul rubbish. If it wasn’t for Unions a whole swathe of society would be worse off. They have negotiated for most of the weaker sectors of society unless you believe our main political parties and employer bodies are actually altruistic. A brief review of pay negotiations over the last two decades would show you’re taking nonsense. But continue please with your populist nonsense.
Storm. Teacup. He probably shouldn’t have said it but it needs to be read in the context of his overall remarks. And of course he is entirely correct. The industrial relations landscape, anywhere, is not one for the faint hearted. AGSI are showing their inexperience in IR matters. So their executive committee is going to discuss the matter. Next month. Great to see they exhibit the same sense of urgency they show when investigating petty crime. This response suggests a leadership who are afraid of their own shadow and reluctant to take any decision without reference to their bloated and militant executive committee. If they are going to get outraged over minutiae then God help us when they actually get into the real meat of IR. Pathetic. Talk about losing credibility. Most they throw their toys out of their prams and express outrage over every little thing? Just get on with it. That is why you have professional full time negotiators. You’re making yourselves look like tools. If you can’t take the verbals it suggests weakness. Of course AGSI like to dish it out but can’t take it when it’s returned. Pathetic.
John,
You are completely missing the point.
It’s not about being sensitive.
This guy is supposed to be impartial.
He was asked to describe interpretations of the law. And now this kerfuffle, rubbish.
We Irish hate the truth, especially when there are a few quid on the table.
Of course it was mutiny and it’s time the Unions put on their big boy pants and stopped pissing and moaning when they are called out for what they truly are.
Why can’t we say it’s a mutiny when Gardai threat on strike? Kevin Duffy was simply to tell the truth & if it”s 1920s – 1940s, Gardai would be tried in court for mutiny which it carries out the death penalty!
Government should have stood up to the Garda strike they caved in too easily.
We can safely predict Kevin Duffy will never be heard of again Even RTE will forget
He was right the first time
The bullies win again
There’s somethink really wrong in a country where a honest man has to retract his comments even though he was speaking the truth….who is call the shots in this state,goverment or disgrunted gardai ..
This Buck is actually Chairman of a Public Service Pay Commission. He should have known better, he has been around for a while now. He has now acknowledged that his comments were of poor quality, well if he is admitting that it is obviously a lot worse. He just has to resign, he made a bad mistake, a bad call.
Just as well he rowed back or he would have been dragged out of his car for being bald,handcuffed and paraded in front of Garda Paul Reynolds.
Duffy is only retracting now in order to try and save his job. Why did he not do that yesterday evening?, he only done so this evening because he has been told to do so by Donohoe. The GRA and AGSI must keep up the pressure now on him. All his auld mates are coming out to defend him, he has made a hames of his job now, he will be seen as not independent any more.
He was told to retract and shut up in future,upsetting the mutineers
He said what he was feeling,a retraction means nothing.why is he only person capable to chair committee,population of 4.5 mn.it smells.
As usual, unions making a tempest in a tea cup.
Duffey I s right but you can’t beat city HALL
Given his position this was a stupid intervention, one must compare it with former supreme court judge Hugh O Flaherty making representation to a court official on behalf of a neighbour. In both cases a conflict of interest could be persisted.
O Flaherty stood down and Duffy should do likewise, one way or another his position as Chair of the Public Service Pay Commission is compromised.
Wally?!! *whistle*
Here Wally!!
Odeus banker debt blah blah print money blah blah blah sovereign nation bla blah capitalism blah blah blah no way we wont pay blah blah blah
Bad cops second jobbing on the fiddle for paedophile solicitors, now get the same rise as good cops.
IS the second salary declared to CAB? Oh Union head says Cops would never do any wrong, and if pay is based on that then dock the culprits and give it to the others -problem solved.
Brendan. Have you proof of that, it’s a serious statement to come out with.
You could be called out on it.
Another Joe O’Toole!
People like Mr Duffy should get so pompous and think they can say what they like cos it always comes and bites them.
People like Mr Duffy should get so pompous and think they can say what they like cos it always comes and bites them.
No
its time the garda was rebuilt to a proper police force, get rid of the senior officers who are only interested in the next promotion, get a commissioner from outside the country, and a tougher minister for justice who will make prisions pay and sack judges who are not up to it, then we will have a police force that actually works for the citizen and protect it, but things will not change in this country its all about how much i am worth!!
BTW all comments on this in Indo are removed, ah Doheny & Nesbits meetings need to be paid for, pog mo thoin, started with a kiss, you kiss my arse and I’ll lick yours, use the hand held JCB to scour the crevice.
The Journal must be the only publication that hasn’t entered the post-truth era. The IT got rid of their Legal Affairs correspondent, but the new wan was now got at and so only wans of their own allowed top make repeat postings on same mantra, so much for the paper of record, broken record!
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