Cork councillor says prison plan will not fix short-term overcrowding

As overcrowding rises again in Cork Prison, a Cork city councillor says it needs to be seen if the current system is working effectively rather than just planning to build another Cork facility.

The prison broke its own overcrowding record for the third day in a row yesterday, with 382 people in custody.

There were 376 inmates in the prison last Friday, and 374 last Thursday, breaking the previous record of 372 set in February of this year. The prison has capacity for 296 people, but the number of inmates has been in excess of this every day for more than two years.

Yesterday, the prison was operating at 129% capacity, with 86 people not having a regular bed, meaning Cork was the most overcrowded men’s prison in the country.

Nationally, 5,472 people were in prison yesterday, with just capacity for 4,672, meaning there are 800 people across Ireland in prison without a regular bed.

Criticised

Speaking to The Echo, Labour councillor John Maher, who lives beside the prison, criticised plans to demolish the old facility, which closed in 2016, to build a new facility alongside the current one, adding that the latest overcrowding record was concerning.

He said: “With the numbers growing the way they are, we have to ask is prison working, or if it’s just a revolving door — what are people learning from their experience in prison?”

Mr Maher said that if the solution was to build another prison, the Glen was not the place for it.

“Even if the prison was to be built there, that’s not going to happen today or tomorrow,” he said. 

“Something has to be done in the short term because we can’t continually operate over capacity to this level, from a health and safety basis and in terms of prison workers’ rights.

“We need to look at where we’re at with rehabilitation and training — people I know who have had a brush with the law, it often goes back to growing up and not getting a fair chance. 

"Some people deserve to be in prison, but there is a percentage that need a second chance, an opportunity for a job or a trade — the cost of that training is insignificant compared to what it costs to lock them up.

“If the Dublin minister for justice pushes ahead with this new prison, I’m not sure how much of their problems it’s going to solve. I am not sure how they plan to build a prison in their six-year timeframe, and I don’t see any solutions for the short term.”