Irish Penal Reform Trust

Irish Examiner: Letters from victim's families show 'enormous pain and suffering'

5th October 2018

Writing in today's Irish Examiner, Security Correspondent Cormac O'Keeffe reports on the Parole Board Annual Report 2017, which was published by the Minister for Justice and Equality on 4th October 2018.

The article, entitled 'Letters to Parole Board from victim's families show enormous pain and suffering', relates the Parole Board's response to the letters, which show many people continue to suffer “severe trauma and mental health problems”. The letters are considered by the board when weighing up whether or not a life-sentence inmate should be granted parole, according to the report.

The article outlines that the average sentence already served by 21 life-sentence prisoners granted parole was 18 years.

The article also reports that IPRT welcomed the restated commitment of Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan to progress legislation to establish the Parole Board on a statutory basis, and quotes IPRT Executive Director Deirdre Malone:

“However, we are concerned at current proposals to increase eligibility for parole review from seven years to 12 years, which may have the unintended effect of delaying engagement by life-sentenced prisoners in rehabilitative services and treatments.”

Read the Irish Examiner article here.

Read the Parole Board Annual Report 2017 here.

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