Director’s Blog
Adventures in Rhetoric
17th September 2009
The Minister for Justice is one of the most skilled communicators in the Oireachtas, but his statements yesterday in relation to the quality of accommodation provided within the Irish Prison estate represent quite a remarkable adventure in the use of language.
Perspectives on child detention
15th September 2009
Director's Blog: Young boys being held without meaningful activity in a cramped prison environment could not happen in Sweden and Germany where young offenders are only ever held in constructive, activity-centred institutions.
Failing to protect prisoners from harm
2nd September 2009
The circumstances surrounding Mark Kelly's tragic death give cause for alarm and raise questions about the capacity of prison authorities to control access to illegal drugs, particularly where a prisoner is under the highest level of observation and at risk of self harm.
Overcrowding as a Life and Death Issue
21st August 2009
The Inspector of Prisons' report is clear and direct, and cuts through the sea of official statements on prison policy in recent years that have sought to mask the problems within the system.
An Bord Snip Nua: Storing up social and economic liabilities for future generations
23rd July 2009
The McCarthy report fails to take into account that crime is an area of social policy that cannot be seen in isolation; reducing crime rates at its causes is much cheaper than treating the symptoms through imprisonment.
Politicians' Logic in the Fight on Crime
8th July 2009
The parallels between unblocking drains and the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: if the problem is somewhere else in the pipeline, you’re wasting your time.
Our justice system is failing children in need of secure care
3rd July 2009
Director's Blog: Young people coming before the High Court seeking secure and emergency care – the most vulnerable children in the State – are being denied access to that protection. This is a human rights issue of the gravest kind, writes Liam Herrick.
Crisis, what crisis?
12th June 2009
The current level of overcrowding in Mountjoy can only be described as at a critical level. The current situation goes beyond ideas of penal reform, rehabilitation of offenders or prison regimes. It is far more basic than that.
The horrors of the past and the hypocrisies of the present.
2nd June 2009
Last week in the Seanad, Senator Eoghan Harris put forward a novel proposal that the Minister for Justice should consider introducing an amnesty for minor offenders currently in prison to mark the release of the Ryan Commission Report.
The problem with mandatory sentencing
14th May 2009
"We should have absolutely no confidence that mandatory sentencing will have a real impact on the drug or gang problems."
