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Updated, July 29, 10.06
THE NEW PRISON to be built at Thornton Hall in north county Dublin – which was originally planned to house 2,200 prisoners – will now be built to accommodate just 500 people.
The government has accepted the recommendation of an independent review group which says the new facility should only contain 300 cells, a significant downscale of the 1,400-cell facility originally planned.
The report from the Thornton Hall Review Group, which was formed in early April, was published by the Department of Justice this lunchtime. In a statement, Shatter said the government had approved its recommendations in principle.
The intention of the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrat government which bought the site in 2005 was that the new facility would allow for the eventual closure of Dublin’s main prison at Mountjoy.
The plan also suggests that a new 200-cell prison be built at Kilworth in Co Cork, with the prison on Cork’s north inner city being closed “at the earliest possible opportunity”.
The review group also recommends that both facilities be built with ‘step-down accommodation’, which effectively provides for an open centre with a secure perimeter.
Shatter said this proposal would “enable prison authorities to give greater operational effect to the ‘principle of progression’ in the penal system.
The proposed prison complexes will allow the prison authorities to create incentivised prison regimes to allow offenders progress through the system in a way that helps their eventual reintegration into society. ”
The minister added that he agreed with the group’s statement that building new prisons was not the sole way of tackling prison overcrowding, but that other strategies should also be used.
A decision on the timeframe for building the two new facilities will be made in the autumn when the government decides its capital spending priorities for 2012.
As of last Friday there were 5,479 people in the prison system, though 612 were on temporary release due to overcrowding alone.
The purchase of the Thornton Hall site caused great controversy at the time, when the government paid around €30m for the plot – considered significantly above the market price at the time.
A 190-acre farm in Ratoath, just a few miles away from the proposed prison site, was sold for €6.2m just two months later.
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Wasn’t it McDowell that was behind this purchase. Multiples paid of its true value. Good old McDowell. I wonder what the story behind that one was. I wonder what was behind all that.
He was described as “Bertie Ahern’s shoeshine boy” and I have to say I haven’t heard a better or more accurate description yet. Although he could be described as Sean Fitzpatrick’s shoeshine boy, or indeed anyone that ever threw 500+ in to the PD donation box. He and his Govt’s legacy is seen every day in countless destroyed businesses and jobs.
Pay Zimbabwe to take our prisoners – it will be cheaper and unlikely to reoffend !
The prison figures are not accurately reported in the article: 5,479 is total no. prisoners in the sytem, which INCLUDES those on temporary release (TR), ie. not a “further” 612 on TR. Moreover, 612 is the number of people out on TR due to overcrowding specifically (ref. Dept of Justice press release) – there would be others on TR for other reasons, incl. compassionate leave, in advance of full release, etc.
Numbers actually in prison custody have been just below 4,500 in 2011 – eg. number in custody on 22 June was 4,433. This still represents massive overcrowding in the prison system. (6,681 people imprisoned for failure to pay court-ordered fines in 2010!!)
Fiona – apologies if that’s the case. The exact phrasing of the data in the press release were that there were 5,479 “in the prison system”, which I didn’t interpret as being inclusive of the 612 who aren’t actually in detention. I’ll amend it now.
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