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Updated 20:16
EARLIER TODAY IT WAS confirmed that St Patrick’s Institution for young offenders, which has been repeatedly criticised by human rights bodies for being unconstitutional, is to close down.
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter confirmed all prisoners are to be moved to different institutions within six months.
The head of the Irish Prison Service has said that the safety and security of offenders cannot be guaranteed at the institution, which houses male criminals between the ages of 17 and 21.
The Inspector of Prisons had called for the prison to close following repeated evidence of non-compliance with best practice and breaches of the fundamental rights of prisoners. Judge Michael Reilly said that management had tried to deal with the issues but the culture had not changed.
All current inmates are to be transferred to Wheatfield Prison in Dublin, which will provide 150 spaces for young offenders from now on. A special unit is to be set up for 17-year-old offenders.
Prison staff at St Patrick’s will be transferred to other institutions.
Alan Shatter said that St Patrick’s will become part of Mountjoy prison – as it is already located on the grounds of the north inner city jail – once the legislation to close St Patrick’s passes. Part of it will be designated as a protection wing for Mountjoy prisoners.
Pressure increased on the government and the Irish Prison Service to find an alternative to St Patrick’s over the past year after one in a series of damning reports by the Inspector of Prisons found evidence of excessive use of force against prisoners and forced stripping of clothes from the prisoners, among other human rights violations.
“While a significant number of improvements have been made in the institution, including a new management team being put in place and measures to tackle the flow of drugs, it is disappointing and unacceptable to note the disturbing incidents of non-compliance with best practice and breaches of fundamental rights of prisoners identified by the Inspector [of Prisons],” said Shatter.
Prison officers have repeatedly said that extra training should be offered to staff in facilities which house juvenile offenders as their training is inadequate to deal with under-18s.
The Government has announced plans to move all 17-year-old offenders to a facility in Oberstown in north county Dublin which will have the proper resources to deal with teenage criminals. However the building of the facility has been repeatedly postponed and it now seems unlikely that the government will meet its target of 2014 for opening the new Oberstown centre.
First published 12:15
I am struggling to remember a single thing this government have managed properly.
Apart from their numerous pay rises.
@Andrew Martin: working day and night to legitimise the pay rise for working day and night to legitimise the pay rise.
@Andrew Martin: errrr how about Ireland ranked 20th highest in full vaccinations? And a working tracking app, how about us not going the way of the UK. We ate doing a lot of right things. Sorry to ruin your massive failed whinge
@Paul Furey: Your opinion is in the minority now unfortunately
… People want the country opened up.
@Paul Furey: ha, a tracking app that chewed through battery power and didnt work 100%, 20th while vaccinating a relatively small population and what way are the UK going? Fully open soon and more vaccinated than us?…… I get that you’re pro govt in the majority of your posts but in reality they’ve handled this crisis very poorly on many levels. Poor communication, leaks, conflicting info, not protecting the elderly in the first wave, afraid to lock down initially while watching everyone else lock down(26th in europe to do so), not engaging with heavily impacted sectors, nearly a year in level 5 and not managing the economy through the whole thing, rules that dont make any sense, taking ages to enforce masks for a airborne disease, not making use of rapid testing. And theres prob more.
@Paul Hedderman: the UK also had 50 deaths today, the highest number since April. Do you want that here too?
@Paul Furey: The only thing this inept government can agree on is on how to F..k things up.
@Sam Harms: Adjust for population. Thats like 3 – 4 deaths here…. And they had 6 yesterday. Thats why 7 day moving averages are better stats to look at to get a more accurate picture.
@Paul Hedderman: in the past 7 days they have had 213 deaths
@Sam Harms: thanks sam. Thats an average of 30. This time in their second wave when they had slightly higher daily cases they were getting around 600 deaths a day. Big difference….. Thankful the vaccienes are being rolled out
@Sam Harms: Thanks also for proving my point. 50 is way worse than the 7 day average of 30. 66.6% more infact.
@Paul Hedderman: so you don’t think an average of 30 people a day dying from covid is bad? How many people are you willing to sacrifice?
@Sam Harms: in the UK, no, thats very good in regard to fighting the virus. Thats like 2 people a day here…… Around 2 people die a day here during flu season. Never any restrictions for that and most people go on with their daily lives unaware. While any death is sad for the loved ones humans get sick and die all the time. We live beside viruses and illness every day of our lives, unrestricted pre covid. We’ll get to a stage with covid where we’ll live unrestricted, hopefully limiting deaths as much as possible, but there’ll probably still be deaths. People need to realise that.
Typical..right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing….
@Paul Somers: typical….moaner
@Paul Furey: is ‘whinge’ your favourite word, Paul?
@JedBartlett: He seems to have an extremely limited vocabulary:)
@Paul Furey: i never tire of seeing you whinge about other people whinging.
Do they ever talk to each other before telling the public stuff?
@Ballybough Marcus: no they haven’t the intelligence
Misunderstanding something they are brilliant at
@Keith O Hanlon: Yes exactly, this is what the email says:You can use your certificate to facilitate travel across EU member states during the Covid-19 pandemic and on the actual cert it mentions that this is not a travel document
@Keith O Hanlon: Yes exactly, this is what the email says:You can use your certificate to facilitate travel across EU member states during the Covid-19 pandemic and on the actual cert it mentions that this is not a travel document
@d: Well thats actually a contradiction in terms as they are saying you must have it, or a pcr / antigen test, to travel.
So if you do not receive the covid passport by email having been vaccinated in June, and are flying on the 19th of July…..and there is no call centre no to contact ? you seriously could not make this up….
@Linda Oreilly: Well wouldn’t that be a little bit silly, booking for the very day the restricitions are up? In Ireland. Where nothing runs on time.
@Tom Tom: And its that sort of attitude that contributes to these shortcomings. “Ah shur we’ll be grand” instead of saying get your overpaid asses into gear get it done properly.
@Linda Oreilly: Is it not going to be available on the Covid tracker app as well? You’d have that to show?
@Fiona Fitzgerald: yep I got my Covid Vaccine Passport via email late last night. No more PCR tests!!
All i can think of anytime one of these eejits make a statement is a chant you would here at a foitball match ” You don’t know what you’re doing”
@Derek Lyster: just waiting and hoping for a slight slip up by theGovernment and the Shinners and lefties are out of the woodwork…the rest of us agree that a good job is being done in extreme and unprecedented situations.
@john gavin: I’m neither a Shinner nor a Leftie as you so condescendingly put it. I would just like our vastly overpaid representatives to do their jobs properly. Not try to rush through legislation that has in no way been thought properly through so they can go on holidays. I for one don’t agree that they, have or are, doing a good job.
@Franny Ando: But that’s exactly what a Stalint-Trotskist-Marxist-Lefty-Commie would say!
Seriously though, it self expires in 3 months and they can’t do it the right way anyway because it’s constitutionally *very* sketchy and likely wouldn’t pass muster. They are lucky they have Michael D to sign it tbh. I doubt some of our previous presidents would.
So, yeah, it’s rubbish, but at least it will put itself in the bin in October so I don’t see the need to stress it.
@John Considine: But remember they are also saying it can be extended beyond Oct. So let’s hope it is put in the bin:)
Michael Martin looking a bit unwell these days
Ahh the good old “GANFYD” approach: “Get A Note From Your Doctor”.
Doctor’s notes waste huge amounts of time and aren’t as valuable as most folk believe. Waste of your own money and your doctor’s time in many cases.
We need to move away from this business of medicalising everything. Why would you need a doctor’s note to eat out, go on holiday etc? Surely that’s the Dept of Health’s decision.
Tried to ring the number today as my cert has the wrong name on it. Rang once then disconnected. This happened 10 times. Looks like they’re getting paid not to answer the phone.
The Mrs. Received her cert today but is disappointed that it can’t be laminated due to the glare from the paper which prevents the digital machine from reading the QR code.
So what’s the phone number then ?
I got mine through my gp but at a hse vaccination centre. God only knows if or how I’ll get one. I better call the helpline. Oh no wait, its not set up yet.
Got phizer in a country outside the EU. I wonder will they accept my covid vaccination certificate!
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