Plans for new prisons in Cork and Dublin go ahead

A process to look at building a new prison in Dublin is to begin next year but plans to open a second prison in Cork are still to go ahead, justice minister Jim O’Callaghan has confirmed, as overcrowding figures in Cork creep close to record highs.

Cork Prison has a capacity of 296 but has been over this every day since 2023, reaching a record high of 403 in August. As of yesterday, there were 382 people incarcerated in the facility, representing 129% capacity.

Earlier this year, the Government announced plans to build a new prison alongside the current one, utilising the site of the old Cork prison, which was closed in 2016. This will be demolished and replaced with the new prison.

These plans are ongoing, though Cork TDs and councillors from many different parties have spoken out against the plan, saying a commitment was made to the neighbouring community that the old facility would not reopen as a prison.

Fine Gael councillor Shane O’Callaghan previously told The Echo that the old prison should not be demolished due to its history and should instead be utilised as a heritage site, and that a larger prison at Thornton Hall in Dublin would make more sense.

The Government has confirmed that it intends to progress plans for new facilities in both Thornton Hall and Cork.

Mr O’Callaghan said in the Dáil last week that a record capital investment of €527m is being provided to the Irish Prison Service from 2026 to 2030, €495m of which is being provided for capital works to build 1,595 prison spaces by 2031. 

It will include “a new prison on the site of the old Cork prison, a new block in Wheatfield, an additional block extension at Midlands Prison, as well as additional spaces at Castlerea, Mountjoy, Cloverhill, Portlaoise, Limerick, and Dóchas”, he said.

Mr O’Callaghan added: “It will also fund planning and commencement of the construction of a new prison in north Co Dublin. A master plan for the Thornton site will be developed in 2026.”