‘Mountjoy on tenterhooks' – Irish prison tensions at new high amid record prisoner numbers as ‘staff attack' fears rise
THE number of prisoners in Irish jails hit a record high this week - with anger and tension mounting in slammers.
New figures reveal that as of Thursday, April 24, 5,332 people were incarcerated with only 4,666 beds available.
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Almost every prison in the country is swamped
Credit: � 2024 PA Media, All Rights Reserved
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The Midlands prison houses evil killer Graham Dwyer
Credit: � 2024 PA Media, All Rights Reserved
This meant 666 inmates were being forced to sleep on mattresses, double up in single cells, causing rising tensions.
Almost every prison in the country has been swamped, with 987 in
The Irish
But staff still had to find places to detain an extra 180 inmates.
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A Mountjoy source said: 'This place is on tenterhooks at the moment, we have two or three fellas in some cells when we use to only have one.
'There is a lot of tension in the air because of the overcrowding and fellas have no privacy. There is a lot of anger among the prison population and we are doing our best to keep a lid on it.
'Assaults and attacks on staff are up.
'Why in the name of God the State not build another new prison with a rising population is beyond belief.'
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The Midlands Prison, which houses evil killers such as
TEMPORARY ACCOMMODATION
Staff have to find temporary accommodation for 121 extra prisoners.
In
The Limerick Female Prison is also overcrowded with 83 prisoners and only 55 beds.
In
'NO CONTROL'
The Irish Prison Service said it has no control over the number of prisoners sent to it by the
It cannot, by law, turn prisoners away.
Prison officials say the Government can't provide enough prison spaces quick enough and the crisis is going to get worse before it gets better.
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