Inmate numbers at Cork Prison reach new record high 

Overcrowding in Cork Prison has surpassed yet another record, with 425 people in custody on Tuesday, 123 of them sleeping on mattresses on the floor.

The prison has capacity for 304 people, after eight additional bedspaces were added earlier this year, but has been over capacity every day since 2023, with the previous record of 423 people in custody being set earlier this month.

The number of people sleeping on mattresses has risen considerably since the start of the year, when record number of inmates stood at 410.

On Tuesday, the prison was operating at 140% capacity, the highest of any men’s prison in the country, with 29% of prisoners without a bed. By yesterday, the number of people in Cork Prison was at 422, or 139% of capacity, with 114 people sleeping on the floor, accounting for 27% of the prison’s population.

There were 5,909 people in prison across the country yesterday, with 599 people without beds, meaning the system was operating at 125% capacity.

The Government intends to add capacity for 230 men and 100 women in a new Cork prison on the site of the old prison to be built by 2031. The former prison closed in 2016 when the modern premises opened.

Northside TDs and councillors have voiced concern at the prospect of additional prison spaces at the site, pointing out that locals were promised that the old building would be put to community use.

Last month, justice minister Jim O’Callaghan told The Echo he was “very aware of the difficulties within the prison estate”.

He said he had received approval last year for an expedited prison construction programme, but was not just looking at extending spaces.

“I’m also bringing forward legislation in the Miscellaneous Provisions Bill that will allow for greater use of community sanctions, and that’s something I would like to see the courts availing of more,” he said. 

Such sanctions would include community service and probation, rather than jail time.