Justice minister to meet locals over Cork Prison extension

Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan will meet with community groups near Cork Prison to discuss the planned extension of the historic jail.

The meeting is being arranged after a request from Fianna Fáil TD Pádraig O’Sullivan, who wants to expand the training services provided by the Glen Resource Centre for inmates, former prisoners and other groups.

O’Callaghan told Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould in the Dáil that he will listen to local concerns about developing the former Cork Prison on Rathmore Road into an extension of the current facility, which is operating at 114% capacity nationwide.

Cork City Council recently voted to add the old prison building to the Register of Protected Structures, while demolition is being planned to make way for accommodation for an additional 230 male and 100 female inmates.

Local residents have voiced worries, including one resident who asked to meet the minister at her home to show how the prison’s proximity affects her family, citing incidents of drugs being thrown into the yard and visitors speaking to inmates through cell windows.

TD Gould welcomed the minister’s commitment, noting that the proposal would add 330 beds, meaning over 10% of The Glen’s population could be prisoners, and urged a swift arrangement of the meeting.

Source: Irish Examiner. Photo: Hasan Huseyin Can / Pexels.