TD says community 'will fight any plan to demolish' Cork's historic prison

The Irish Prison Service has said that a tender for the works on the old Cork Prison will issue later this year, but no decision has been made yet on whether or not to demolish the building.

In May this year, the IPS and Department of Justice posted a formal notice to demolish the old prison in The Glen.

Plans are to develop a new prison with space for 230 men and 100 women on the site, but the current plans deal only with the demolition. Both the demolition of the old building and the building of a new one has been met with fierce local opposition.

Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said in July after a public consultation on the demolition plans had closed that 84 submissions from the public were received and that “due consideration will be given to each submission”.

Last month, a spokesperson for the prison said: “The process of reviewing observations to inform a decision to the planning process is still currently ongoing and is expected to be completed by or before the end of 2026.” 

A spokesperson has now said: 

“It is anticipated that a tender for the works for the old Cork Prison site will issue in the last quarter of this year.” 

It is understood the tender will be used to inform the decision whether or not to demolish the building, and is thus being issued prior to permission being granted or refused.

However, Sinn Féin TD for the area Thomas Gould said he was “deeply concerned” about the process.

“No decision has been made on the project. How could a government Minister sign a tender like this when there is no permission to demolish the building?

“The community must be heard. The process is completely opaque.

“We will fight any plan to demolish this building – it is a physical link to Cork’s history.”