Cork TD queries building options at former prison site

A Cork TD has questioned why the old Cork prison site was recently identified as a location for housing when a new prison is to be built there.

Representatives of the Land Development Agency (LDA) attended the Dáil last week, taking several questions from elected members on housing projects.

Earlier this year, a report on public land by the LDA identified parcels of public land with the potential for the development of housing, including the former Cork prison site, which they said could be converted to 400-570 homes for €133m-€184.5m.

However, earlier this month, plans to demolish the site and build a new prison, alongside the current facility catering for an additional 230 male inmates and 100 female inmates, were put forward by justice minister Jim O’Callaghan.

It follows long discussions and a report undertaken on if the old prison could be used for prisoner accommodation without needing to be demolished and rebuilt.

Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould asked the LDA if it had pulled out of discussions on taking over the site.

Potential

The LDA’s director of planning, Dearbhla Lawson, said: “The deputy will note that [the old] Cork prison is still in the report on public lands. We published that in March 2025.

“It identifies lands adjacent to the prison as offering some potential for housing. That is subject to going through a process, understanding the needs in the area.”

Mr Gould said: “The only problem is the minister for justice and Taoiseach last week greenlit the building of a new prison on the site. It is a bit confusing. At one stage, it was being looked at for housing for the community and now the minister has made this announcement. Did the LDA get notification of the changes?”

Ms Lawson said: “There is an ongoing process which is engaging with stakeholders. The departments will be engaging with relevant stakeholders. We recognise things move on and there are legitimate issues and capacity issues.”

Over capacity

These issues in the current Cork Prison are an ongoing problem, with the prison being over capacity every day for two years.

In February of this year, the 296-bed prison recorded 372 inmates, meaning 76 of them were sleeping on the floor. Last week, the amount in custody reached close to this record — with 363 in custody on Monday, 366 on Tuesday, 369 on Wednesday and Thursday, and 365 on Friday.

The plans for the new Cork prison would not see a new facility in place for approximately six years, as the Irish Penal Reform System previously told The Echo: “Additional prison spaces coming onstream in 2031 will do absolutely nothing to address today’s prison overcrowding crisis or provide a bed for the… people sleeping on a mattress on the floor of Cork Prison.”