Officials reviewing study looking at whether the old Cork prison may be put back into use 

A feasibility study on the former Cork Prison has been completed, and is currently being reviewed to see if it can be used for prisoner accommodation, Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said.

It comes amid ongoing overcrowding in Irish prisons which have seen almost 500 prisoners out on temporary release, including 61 in Cork.

As of yesterday, there were 339 people in Cork Prison, which has 296 beds, meaning it was operating at 115% of capacity.

The former Cork Prison ceased to operate as a prison in February 2016 following the opening of the new facility on the same road.

The old prison has no in-cell sanitation. There were also issues with the size of the cells and the condition of the facilities, as the prison was built in the 1800s. 

The old facility also did not have televisions, with the Irish Prison Service previously saying that following the introduction of TVs, incidents of self-harm and suicide dramatically fell in Irish prisons.

Following the transfer of operations, the former prison facility was closed and decommissioned and has remained unused over the past eight years, Ms McEntee said in the Dáil this week.

She told Labour Party TD Seán Sherlock: “Following the closure, a number of statutory and non-statutory groups considered the site for potential use. The site was included as a potential location for social and affordable housing in the Land Development Agency’s Report to Government on Relevant Public Land/Sites, and the Irish Prison Service had a formal engagement with the LDA on the potential use of the site in March 2023. I am advised that the site is not being considered for use as social and affordable housing at this time.

“In addition, there was interest expressed locally in using the site for community use, however, I am advised by my officials in the Irish Prison Service that no formal proposal was submitted to the service for consideration and therefore this option has not been progressed.

“With the continued pressure on prisoner numbers across the prison estate, the site of the former prison at Cork has been identified as a possible location for additional prisoner accommodation, and therefore the location remains of strategic interest to the Irish Prison Service. In this regard, a feasibility study has been commissioned on the facility’s potential for use in the short, medium and longer term, and the outcome of this is currently being reviewed.”