Irish prison chiefs spent €15k on products for beauty courses in female jails
Hair-raising figure for training supplies at Dochas and Limerick
Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that a total of €5,399 was spent on hairdressing supplies including shampoo, conditioner, hair-colouring products, brushes and capes at the Dochas Centre in Dublin in 2024.
This cost came out of the Work Training budget at the prison, which houses some of the country's most dangerous female criminals.
The Dochas Centre's salon — named Head and Shoulders after former inmates and hair and beauty students Linda and Charlotte Mulhall — also teaches manicures, facials and how to apply makeup.
The salon was named after Scissor Sisters Charlotte and Linda Mulhall
It runs a 10-week course in hairdressing for up to seven women at a time and covers everything from blow-drying to hair colouring. The amount spent on supplies last year was less than that in 2023 which accounted for €6,287 out of the Work Training budget for Mountjoy's women's prison.
Budget
Meanwhile, according to the FOI figures, there was also a payment made out of the Education budget at the Dochas Centre for €1,266 in 2023 and €1,822 for the female wing of Limerick Prison for salon supplies and tunics.
According to the Irish Prison Service FOI: 'A record exists that there was payment out of the Education budget for Limerick Prison in 2024 — the payment was for hair salon supplies, there was no record in the financial reports of any payment of beauty/ hair supplies from education in 2024 for the Dochas.'
It added that there was no money used out of the Work Training budget for Limerick Women's Prison for hairdressing supplies in 2023-2024.
Charlotte Mulhall, who is serving a life sentence for the gruesome murder of Farah Swaleh Noor in 2005, whose dismembered remains were found in the Royal Canal, was once a star beauty student at the Dochas Centre before being moved to the female wing of Limerick Prison in 2022.
The female wing of Limerick Prison, which houses dissident republican killer Rose Lynch and child killer Karen Harrington, also runs a very popular hair and beauty course.
Career
A source said: 'The course is very popular among prisoners and there is often a waiting list to get on to it.
'The prisoners learn to colour hair, give proper salon blow dries and often use other inmates to try out their new techniques on.
'Many prisoners who have court hearings often receive a salon makeover from fellow inmates who have taken part in the course.
'Inmates often use the course as a stepping stone to pursue a career in hairdressing and beauty once released.'
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