Minister says old Cork Prison should reopen to address overcrowding

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan has said he believes the former Cork Prison should be used for prisoner accommodation.

Mr O’Callaghan was speaking to reporters after a visit to Cork Prison on Friday.

He said that he was not going to make an immediate decision on the site, but that he favoured utilising the former prison site, which has lain idle for nine years, to help address overcrowding.

As of yesterday, there were 349 people in Cork Prison, which has 296 beds, meaning it was operating at 118% capacity, with 53 prisoners sleeping on mattresses.

On February 4, Cork Prison had a record 372 people in custody, with 76 people without proper beds.

According to figures released to Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North-Central, Pádraig O’Sullivan, the average daily number in custody in Cork Prison increased from 271 in 2023 to 335 in 2024.

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

Built in the 1800s, the old prison had no in-cell sanitation and had issues relating to the size of cells and the condition of facilities.

Following the transfer of operations to the new prison, the former facility was closed and decommissioned and has remained unused ever since.

A feasibility study on the possibility of using the former prison for prisoner accommodation was completed last October, while Mr O’Callaghan’s predecessor in justice, Fine Gael’s Helen McEntee, was in office.

The Fianna Fáil justice minister said on Friday that he had been impressed with his visit to the modern Rathmore Rd facility, which he described as “a commendable prison”, despite its overcrowding.

“We have an overcrowding crisis in the prisons, we need more prison spaces,” Mr O’Callaghan said. 

“I think the old Cork Prison site, it’s land that we own, and I would like to see it used for an extension of Cork Prison in the future.”

Mr O’Sullivan said he appreciated Mr O’Callaghan’s intention to address the capacity issues at Cork Prison and was hopeful of a positive announcement for the prison, as extra capacity was urgently required.

“Safety of staff working in these facilities is paramount, and it is clearly demonstrated that being over capacity increases the risk of prisoner-on-prisoner and prisoner-on-staff incidents,” he said.