The Office of the Inspector of Prisons has also called on the Irish Prison Service to ensure that all relevant CCTV footage is preserved after key recordings of checks on the cell of a prisoner and his removal to hospital where he later died could not be located after originally being assured they were available.

The prisoner, who was from Co Donegal, was found at Castlerea Prison where he was on remand.

Provisional data shows there were 7,055 committals last year involving 5,810 people - far more than the comparable figures for 2021

Edward Woodland (23), of Greenmount Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston, and three accomplices in a four-strong burglary gang, were jailed Wednesday for a total of 18.5 years with 4.5 years suspended at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court.

Paul Coffey (45), with an address at Lord Edward Street, Limerick City, has been held on remand in Limerick Prison since August of last year

Fifteen people have died in Irish prisons so far this year

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), found that IPS Higher Executive Officer, Caroline O’Connor - who has a heart condition - was denied ‘reasonable accommodation’ by the IPS under the Employment Equality Act.

It was alleged that prisoners sometimes threw bananas and peanuts at the prison officer, or told him to go home to the Congo

John Duggan has worked for the prison service for the last nine years, and says 'it’s a place where people get a second chance'

Robert O’Connor died at the Mater Hospital on Wednesday morning, days after he was attacked by a group of men in his cell.

The inmate has been named as 34-year-old Robert O'Connor from Darndale in Dublin