'Tension' rising in all Irish prisons as inmate numbers reach all-time high
The number of prisoners in Irish jails hit a record high this week.
As of Thursday, (April 24), 5,332 people were incarcerated with only 4,666 beds available.
This meant 666 inmates were being forced to sleep on mattresses, doubling up in single cells and causing rising tensions.
Almost every prison in the country has been swamped with 987 in Mountjoy, a jail with a bed capacity of 807.
The Irish Prison Service has created more temporary accommodation there over the past few weeks to cope with the demand. However, staff still had to find places to detain an extra 180 inmates.
A Mountjoy source said: "This place is on tenterhooks at the moment, we have two or three fellas in some cells when we used 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 has the State not built another new prison with a rising population is beyond belief.'
The Midlands prison which houses evil killers such as Graham Dwyer and Jozef Puska who murdered teacher Ashling Murphy, now has 1,012 inmates and only 891 beds. Staff have to find temporary accommodation for 121 extra prisoners.
In Limerick all-male prison there were 398 inmates and 311 beds so 85 prisoners are sleeping on mattresses.
The Limerick Female Prison is also overcrowded with 83 prisoners and only 55 beds.
In Portlaoise prison where some of the country's most dangerous gangsters like 'Fat Freddie' Thompson are detained, it had 281 inmates and only 226 beds leaving a shortfall of 55 prisoners to be accommodated.
Cork prison had 327 prisoners, 31 over its limit while Castlerea had 428 - 51 over its limit.
The Irish Prison Service said it has no control over the number of prisoners sent to it by the courts and it has a legal obligation to house them.
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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