Three babies born to inmates in Irish prisons and 19 pregnant women jailed this year
Three babies have been born to inmates at the Dóchas Centre women's prison in Dublin and Limerick's women's prison to date this year, new figures show.
According to the new figures provided by the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Jim O'Callaghan (FF) TD, four infants aged under 12 months, three at Dóchas and one at Limerick - have been accommodated with their mothers at the females prisons to date this year.
This followed three infants being accommodated with their mothers at Dochas Centre only in 2024.
The three babies born to inmates across the Irish prison estate this year follow four babies born to inmates in 2024.
This followed no babies born to prison inmates in 2023 and 2022 and there was only baby born to a woman jailed at Dóchas Centre prison at the time during 2021 and 2020.
In written Dail replies to Deputies Gary Gannon TD (Soc Gen) and Matt Carthy TD (SF), Minister O'Callaghan confirmed that two babies have been born to inmates at Dóchas Centre to date this year and one baby to an inmate at the 50-capacity Limerick's women's prison.
In the replies, Minister O'Callaghan also reveals that in 2025, 19 pregnant women have imprisoned at Irish prisons - 13 at Dóchas and six at Limerick.
This followed 27 pregnant women being jailed last year - 22 at Dóchas and five at Limerick and the 27 total was more than double the 12 total for 2023.
In his reply Minister O'Callaghan told the two deputies: 'I can confirm that there are currently no pregnant women remanded to custody within the Irish Prison Estate.'
He said: 'Pregnant woman in custody are provided with as much privacy as possible and are accommodated in single occupancy rooms.'
He said that in accordance with prison rules 'a child may remain in the care of their mother in prison, until the child has reached twelve months of age'
He said that in the Dóchas Centre, mothers and babies are accommodated in single occupancy double rooms.
He said: 'These rooms are on a small landing which is shared with enhanced status prisoners. Work is commencing in relation to additional, bespoke rooms for mothers and babies in the Dóchas Centre.'
He said that 'Limerick Women's Prison does not have a separate building for women with children, however the women and their babies are accommodated in 'independent style apartments'.
He said: 'Each has their own individual apartment. This overall area is not specifically for women with babies and may house other prisoners deemed suitable to live in these "independent style apartments'.
He said that in relation to the health and safety of pregnant women in custody, the Irish Prison Service has developed and apply bespoke risk assessments to both pregnant women and to mothers and babies who are in their custody.
He said: 'These risk assessments inform strategies which support managing the health and safety of pregnant women, and mothers who have given birth to babies whilst serving prison sentences, within the prison environment.'
He said that the Irish Prison Service employs a National Family Connections Officer and Iin May 2025 this officer established a multi-agency working group to review Protocols and update the Irish Prison Service Mother and Baby Policy to ensure best practice for the care and support of mothers and babies in custody.
He said: 'This work is currently at scoping stage.'
Minister O'Callaghan said that 'the level of maternity care and supports provided to women in custody, is comparable to that available to women in the community'.
He said: "Primary care nursing is provided in female prisons on a 24/7 basis, 365 days a year. Doctor services are available Monday to Friday 9-5, with locum services available at the weekends.
He said that 'due to the specific needs of a number of the women who are pregnant, specialist HSE services have a very close and responsive working relationship with both prison management and the prison healthcare team'.
He said: 'Most pregnant women receive all their antenatal care external to the prison, in routine antenatal clinics in the local HSE maternity hospital. When needed and in cases of emergency, specialist midwives will attend the prison; however, this is not a common occurrence.'
He said that 'expectant mothers are always facilitated to have their children born in hospital'.
Dochas women's prison. Photo: Jim Walpole
Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 21st
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Capel St stabbing: How misinformation spread across social media
At about 6.30pm on Tuesday evening, a probationary garda on a high-visibility patrol on Capel St, Dublin, was attacked without provocation by a knife-wielding assailant. Within minutes, misinformation regarding the attacker, who is an Irish citizen, had begun to spread on various social media platforms — a recurring trend in recent times in the fallout from such incidents, with false narratives emerging before facts can be definitively established by official outlets. 6.55pm: An X account, with just 13 followers, posts: 'Garda stabbed by foreigner on Capel Street 10 minutes ago." This post is made in response to an unrelated post from prominent far-right agitator Mick O'Keeffe. The post has been viewed 1,100 times. It is followed eight minutes later by a post from an account with 15 followers, stating: 'Capel Street 20 minutes ago, copper randomly stabbed by foreigner'. That post has been viewed more than 80,000 times. 7.43pm: Prominent anti-immigration X account Real News Éire posts a video allegedly depicting the assault, stating: "A foreigner has stabbed a Gardai [sic] on Capel Street'. The video has been viewed more than 237,000 times. 8.32pm: Gardaí release a statement, quoting assistant commissioner for the Dublin region Paul Cleary, noting the attack and the fact the attacker had been arrested at the scene. No details of his nationality or ethnicity is given, a break from the protocol employed with regard to a shooting at a Carlow shopping centre in early June, when gardaí moved within hours to confirm that the shooter in question Evan Fitzgerald — who took his own life during the incident — was both white and Irish. Revealing such information early is a calculated gambit to quell the spread of misinformation before it can take hold. 8.37pm: Former mixed martial artist Conor McGregor posts on X that an attack has been carried out on a garda 'by one of the Irish Government's new to the parish imports through its human trafficking racket'. The post has been viewed more than 352,000 times. Wednesday morning: It emerges that Tuesday evening's attacker is an Irish citizen of Pakistani heritage. Mr Cleary speaks on RTÉ Radio of 'very inaccurate misinformation and disinformation that went out online after this incident very quickly'. 'We have some people with their own agenda trying to use incidents like this to inflame situations for their own ends," he says. All of the original posts describing the attacker as a non-Irish national remain online. A post from McGregor on Wednesday afternoon pivoted somewhat in describing the suspected attacker as 'a second-generation migrant of full Pakistani heritage', while stating that 'the stabber and his entire family MUST BE DEPORTED' — a statement viewed more than 218,000 times.
The Journal
an hour ago
- The Journal
Debunked: How misinformation spread within minutes of a garda being stabbed on Capel Street
FOLLOWING A KNIFE attack on a garda patrolling inner city Dublin yesterday, false claims that the suspect was a migrant quickly spread on the internet. The garda was attacked yesterday evening during a routine, high-visibility patrol on Capel Street. He was wounded on his upper arm, and his stab vest sustained some impact damage, before the suspect was subdued and detained. The injured garda has since been discharged from hospital after being treated for his injuries. However, false rumours about the suspect soon spread online. 'We have some people with their own agenda try and inflame situations like this for their own ends,' Paul Cleary, Assistant Commissioner for the Dublin Metropolitan Region, said on Morning Ireland today. Many posts with inaccurate claims about the incident, that have accumulated hundreds of thousands of views, can still be seen on social media. One post to Facebook calling the suspect a 'non-national' has accumulated more than 92,600 views since being posted just before 8pm yesterday. Another post that appeared half an hour later, which says that the stabbing was carried out by a 'migrant who went Tonto [crazy]', has been seen 22,800 times, according to statistics from Meta, Facebook's parent company. Advertisement Multiple other posts on Facebook blamed the stabbing on a 'foreigner' without providing any evidence. Posts on the social media platform X alleging that the suspect was a non-Irish person have been viewed more than 100,000 times, according to metrics on that site. One of the earliest posts blaming the stabbing simply read: 'Garda stabbed by foreigner on Capel street 10 minutes ago' responding at 6.55pm to a well-known far-right activist who had been complaining about Ireland being a '3rd world country' because of immigration. Similar narratives quickly spread on X, including claims that Ireland was being overridden by foreign criminals. 'This street has gone to the dogs,' reads a 7.02pm post about the Capel Street stabbing that has been viewed more than 13,100 times. 'Every single day we have foreign nationals, drinking, shitting and pissing on the street in Broad daylight.' Similar arguments that exaggerate how dangerous Dublin is are common in anti-immigrant groups, which often portray non-Irish people are inherently criminal. However, claims that the suspect was a migrant or a non-national contradicts all mainstream reporting on the case, as well as statements made by the Gardaí. The suspect is an Irish citizen who was born in the country, according to numerous outlets, including RTÉ . The suspect is expected to be charged this evening. Baseless accusations that foreigners are responsible regularly appear online almost as soon as crimes occur. Some of these accusations have been associated with real-life violence, including the case of an Indian man who was brutally attacked by a mob in Tallaght last week after being falsely accused of inappropriate behaviour around children. Want to be your own fact-checker? Visit our brand-new FactCheck Knowledge Bank for guides and toolkits The Journal's FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network's Code of Principles. You can read it here . For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader's Guide here . You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here . Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... It is vital that we surface facts from noise. Articles like this one brings you clarity, transparency and balance so you can make well-informed decisions. We set up FactCheck in 2016 to proactively expose false or misleading information, but to continue to deliver on this mission we need your support. Over 5,000 readers like you support us. If you can, please consider setting up a monthly payment or making a once-off donation to keep news free to everyone. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘Justice has been done': Brother jailed for raping sister when she was a child
A woman who reported her older brother for abusing and raping her when she was a child as she feared that he would harm others has said 'justice has been done' after he was jailed for 2½ years on Wednesday. Niamh Herbert (41) waived her right to anonymity at a sentencing hearing for her brother Emmett Baylor (47) at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork. In a victim impact statement, Ms Herbert recalled sitting outside Garda stations in 2018, 'willing herself to find the courage and strength to walk inside' to report the harm inflicted on her when she was aged between six and nine years old. Baylor of Hilltop, Youghal, Co Cork, was found unanimously guilty last month on a number of charges including sexual assaults, indecent assaults and oral rapes. READ MORE Det Garda Yvonne Cashman said that the offences occurred when Baylor was aged 13 to 16. Det Garda Cashman said that Baylor lost his job at sea with Irish Lights following his conviction. Ms Herbert last week presented her own victim impact statement from the witness box. She described delivering the statement as being 'painful' in nature. 'There are no words to sum up a lifetime of damage, but I have to try. 'I was just a little girl when you started to abuse me, and made me a victim. You trapped me for years in a cycle of fear and terror. 'Countless nights I lay in bed frozen in fear, counting footsteps, terrified of what might come next and those memories haunt me to this day. 'The terror didn't stop when the sexual abuse ended. I still grieve for the childhood and youth you stole from me, for the years of innocence and joy I will never get back.' Ms Herbert said she turned to drugs and alcohol at the age of 13 to 'numb the pain and quiet the torture' in her mind. Ms Herbert said Baylor turned to lies and manipulation to try to gain sympathy to serve himself. 'I am a grown woman now and you can't hurt me any more,' she said. Ms Herbert thanked all of the professionals who worked on the case, including Det Garda Cashman. She also thanked her husband Paul, brother Martin and friends for their support as well as the jury for believing her. Defence senior counsel, Alice Fawsitt, said that her client was as young as 12 when the offences on which he was convicted started. Baylor received a character reference from his father Brendan. The court heard that Ms Herbert and her brother Baylor were adopted. In sentencing Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford said the evidence given by Ms Herbert was compelling in nature. She said Baylor had stolen the childhood of Ms Herbert in what should have been a period of 'innocence and joy'. Ms Justice Lankford said a larger custodial sentence would have been imposed on an adult for the same offences. However, Baylor was a young teenager when a large amount of the offending behaviour occurred. Ms Justice Lankford jailed Baylor for 2½ years and said there was no basis for a further reduction given the failure of the accused to accept the jury's verdict. He was also placed on the sex offenders register. Speaking outside the court, Ms Herbert said that she felt 'lighter' having received justice for the abuse she had been subjected to by her brother. She called on others in her position to contact gardaí or to speak to someone. 'Anyone who has been in my shoes or is living with it at the moment, it is very difficult to take that step to come forward. It was always on my mind and I was waiting to build up the courage to do it,' she said. 'The guards will be there for you. I'd like to say to anybody: if I can do it, you can do it. You have everything inside of you. Speak out, tell somebody and they will listen to you.' 'You deserve to live a peaceful life,' she added.
