Prison drone incidents are lowest in Cork

Drones have incurred on Cork Prison far less than on any other Irish prison, with fewer than 0.4% of recorded incidents occurring in Cork.

Jim O’Callaghan, the justice minister, said the Irish Prison Service addresses drone incursions across the prison network by deploying all appropriate security measures.

“The Irish Prison Service has invested €5m, to date, in the nationwide installation of metallic mesh netting to prevent and reduce drone-enabled contraband drops.

“The Irish Prison Service, together with An Garda Síochána, have completed several very successful collaborative operations in the past year, delivering significant results, including multiple arrests and prosecutions linked to attempts to introduce drugs and other contraband into prisons by drone or throw-over,” said Mr O’Callaghan.

“This intelligence-led, multi-agency co-operation is effectively disrupting and detecting attempted delivery of contraband into prisons and improving communication pathways regarding supply, availability, typology, and impact of illicit substances in prisons.”

The Irish Prison Service Operational Support Group did not have a central record of drone incidents until July 2024, when the prevalence of this type of incident increased. Between then and November 27, 2025, there were 505 drone incidents in Irish prisons, just two of which were in Cork.

Wheatfield Prison had the most drone incidents, or 283, followed by Mountjoy, 81, and Cloverhill, 73. There were 23 in Midlands Prison, 14 in Portlaoise, 18 in Limerick, and 11 in Castlerea.

Recovered contraband includes various drugs, knives, blades, mobile phones, chargers, and SIM cards.

The Echo previously revealed that in Cork Prison last year 10 mobile phones and 12 weapons were confiscated and there were 40 drug seizures. The 62 seizures and the 60 the year before were the lowest figures over the last 10 years. The overall decrease in contraband seizures, from an average of 96 pre-2022, comes despite a large increase in the number of people in custody during this time period.