Data on the accommodation of people on remand in prison (a person who has been charged with a criminal offence is being held in custody while awaiting trial or sentencing rather than being released on bail), shows that 84 unconvicted prisoners in Cork were sharing cells with convicted prisoners on one day last month.

Public representatives for the area have said locals were given commitments that the old facility would not reopen as a prison.

Last year, 1,122 people departed from the State under various mechanisms, an increase of 252%, compared to 317 in 2023.

There were 46 drug seizures in 2020, 69 in 2021, 42 in 2022, 36 in 2023, 40 in 2024, and 36 in 2025 up to the end of September.

The Irish Prison Service has reported the matter to gardaí, and an investigation will be carried out into the matter.

Cork Prison has a bed capacity of 296 but last Monday it reached its previous overcrowding record of 403, operating at 136% capacity.

The prison only has capacity for 296 inmates.

A total of 399 people were incarcerated in the facility yesterday, representing 135% capacity as the prison has space for just 296 inmates, meaning 103 people are without a regular bed.

The figures, which represent more than one in four inmates now without a bed, are up 18.5% on this day last year, and are the latest in a series of new records for the prison since the start of July.

The Department of Justice owns three vacant buildings nationally, with two of them in Cork city — Westview House and the old Cork prison.

There were 392 people in Cork Prison yesterday, close to the record high of 394 seen at the start of the week.

According to figures from the Irish Prison Service, Cork Prison is operating at 133% of capacity, a new record for the chronically-overcrowded facility.

The report found that overcrowding in Irish prisons remains a “chronic issue”, with prisoners sometimes forced to live in “squalid conditions”.

There were 390 people incarcerated in Cork prison on yesterday, down from 393 on Thursday, which was a new record. The prison has a capacity of 296, meaning 97 people in the facility did not have a bed on Thursday and 94 on Friday.

In 2023, the average number of people in custody was 306. Yesterday, 391 people were in Cork Prison.

Yesterday, the prison hit a new record for overcrowding, for the eighth time in July. A total of 389 people were incarcerated there, or 131% of the 296 beds.

The prison is currently at 130% capacity, higher than any other men’s prison in the country.

Cork Prison has exceeded its own record for overcrowding for six days in a row, with 386 people in custody there on Thursday, representing 130% capacity.

The former record of 372 people in the prison, which has capacity for 296, has been broken the last four days in a row, with 384 people incarcerated there on Tuesday.

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

Representatives of the Land Development Agency (LDA) attended the Dáil last week, taking several questions from elected members on housing projects.

Once the new unit, set to cater for 230 male and 100 female inmates, is in place, Cork Prison will have the capacity for roughly 636 prisoners.

The plan, brought to Cabinet yesterday by justice minister Jim O’Callaghan, could see the old prison torn down and replaced by facility for both male and female inmates. 

Micheál Martin told The Echo he would be supportive of a proposal to use the building to help address overcrowding at the current prison.

With reference to Cork, a spokesperson for the IPS told The Echo it is working on “a small capital project to provide accommodation for up to an additional 10 prisoners within the existing prison by reconfiguring areas into living accommodation”.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan said that the current programme for government “commits to implement electronic tagging” for appropriate offenders by the end of 2025.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan told The Echo last week that he believes the former Cork Prison should be used for prisoner accommodation “in the future”.

Mr O’Callaghan was speaking to reporters after a visit to Cork Prison on Friday.

There were 135 prisoner-on-prisoner direct physical assaults in Cork Prison last year, the second-highest amount in Ireland, according to figures released by the Irish Prison Service (IPS).

Figures provided to Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North-Central Pádraig O’Sullivan show that the daily average in custody in 2024 was 335, compared to 306 in 2023, 262 in 2022 and 255 in 2021.

With continued pressure on prisoner numbers nationally, the site has been identified as a possible location for additional prisoner accommodation.

In March 2023, an unannounced inspection was carried out in Cork Prison which was experiencing “unprecedented overcrowding at the time”, the inspector said.

Cork Prison had 367 inmates in custody yesterday, 71 more people than the prison is designed to accommodate, meaning that nearly 20% of inmates are still without a bed.

The prison, which has a capacity of 296, had 372 people in custody yesterday, representing 126% capacity. 

The Irish Prison Service told The Echo it “is working closely with the HSE in response to a number of overdose presentations in custody at Cork Prison".

There are 66 people on temporary release from Cork Prison, but these are not included in the figures for the special Christmas temporary leave. 

An average of 35% of people in Cork prison were participating in education during the last three months of 2023, below the national average of 45%.

Ireland South MEP Michael McNamara has addressed the European Parliament in regard to the issue of Ireland’s prison overcrowding.

There are 5,086 people in custody in Irish prisons, which have 4,519 beds.

Mr Martin was speaking to reporters in Blackpool while canvassing and was asked by The Echo about conditions in the prison, as reported by this newspaper.

Cork Prison saw 355 people in custody on Friday last week, a record high, and figures have risen even higher since, with 361 in custody at the beginning of this week. This represents 122% capacity, with 65 people sleeping on the floor.

A Cork prison officer said he expects the numbers to continue to rise “due to the circuit court in full swing at this time of year".

The Open Door project is a collaboration between the Irish Prison Service, MTU’s Department of Tourism and Hospitality and the Irish Association for Social Inclusion Opportunities. 

There were 346 people in the prison, which has a capacity of 296, on Monday, down from 349 on Friday and 351 on Thursday of last week, with almost 70 prisoners currently out on temporary release.

An FOI request by The Echo for a feasibility report by the Irish Prison Service into its potential use was denied as 'the requester would thereby become aware of a significant decision that the body proposes to make'. 

Cork prison is currently operating at 111% capacity

The award honours outstanding contributions to adult education, lifelong learning, and the advocacy of access for non-traditional students. 

The package includes a diverse selection of novels, short stories, and poetry, described as 'reflecting the vibrant literary landscape of Ireland'.

In a video posted on TikTok, a man is seen filming a walk around the old prison which he describes as being one of the best abandoned facilities of its type he has ever seen.

A Cork Prison officer told The Echo that “staff are being stretched” and are “absolutely exhausted”.