Prisons

Inmates at Cork Prison gained experience of working in a live restaurant environment after an intensive eight-week culinary skills course ended with a pop-up restaurant event yesterday. The pilot programme was co-managed by the Irish Prison Service, the Department of Tourism and Hospitality and the

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has dismissed a claim that a prisoner’s human rights were infringed when his housing benefit was denied for four months during his period of imprisonment. The court found that there had been no discrimination between treatment of convicted and unconvict

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has delivered a judgment on the appropriate method for calculating custody expiry dates for prisoners facing concurrent sentences. The court rejected the argument that the calculation of a release date for one offence must take into consideration any period o

The Irish Prison Service has announced plans to lift a number of Covid-related restrictions from Monday. Infection control screens will be removed from physical visiting booths and physical contact between prisoners and visitors will be permitted in line with Prison Rules.

Foreign nationals and people from ethnic minority backgrounds are receiving longer prison sentences for drug offences and sexual offences than white Irish people, new research suggests. The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) today launched a new report on the rights, needs and experiences of foreign na

A newly-opened equine centre at Castlerea Prison will allow prisoners to develop skills in horse husbandry for employment in the equine industry after their release. The "Horses of Hope" centre, the result of an innovative partnership between the Irish Prison Service and the horse racing industry, w

Northern Ireland’s High Court has rejected claims that a prisoner was wrongly refused permission to visit his mother in hospital, and then again to attend her funeral. The court found that the decision of the health trust had been a rational one, and although there had been confusion about the

Penal experts have given a cautious welcome to new European figures showing Ireland has a relatively low prison population rate compared to other European countries. The Council of Europe's annual penal statistics, known as SPACE I, show that Ireland had a prison population rate of 74.4 per 100,000

Mark Toland, the chief inspector of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate, has been appointed as the inspector of prisons on an interim basis. Mr Toland will temporarily fill the vacancy arising from the sudden resignation of Patricia Gilheaney as inspector with effect from last week.

The Northern Ireland Prison Service has set out its plans to remove most restrictions introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the reintroduction of in-person contact visits. The six-week "road to recovery" plan sets out what the prison service aims to have in place by Monday 4 Apr

Up to three people will be allowed to visit prisoners with effect from Monday, the Irish Prison Service has announced. Prison visits have been subject to various restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the prison service confirmed that up to three visitors – which may include two childr

The penal system has regressed over the last five years in key areas of practice, the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has said. In its latest Progress in the Penal System (PIPS) report, IPRT measured progress in the penal system against international human rights standards and best practice, coverin

Vulnerable prisoners in Northern Ireland have been held in solitary confinement for long periods in breach of UN rules, a watchdog has said in a damning report. Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) led an independent review into conditions in care and supervision units (CSUs) in Nort

Northern Ireland prisons will resume in-person visits from Monday, the Northern Ireland Prison Service has confirmed. Visits were suspended shortly after Christmas 2021 in response to the increased risk posed by the Omicron variant.

Scotland's High Court of Justiciary has refused an appeal against extradition by an Irish citizen who claimed he was at risk of having to “slop out” the chamber pot of his prison cell if he were returned to Ireland to serve a custodial sentence. It was argued by Kevin McGourty that there