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THE ANTIQUATED PRACTICE of slopping out is to finally end in one of Ireland’s oldest prisons.
Prisoners in Mountjoy in Dublin will no longer be forced to use buckets or commodes as toilets in their cells when the prison’s D wing closes for refurbishment in the coming weeks.
Ireland’s prisons have been criticised as inhumane and degrading for making prisoners ‘slop out’ in cells which are often shared with other people.
The Irish Prison Service said slopping out will not end over night, but that “significant improvements” have been achieved in recent years. Twelve per cent of prisoners in Ireland’s prison system – 504 people – are currently required to slop out on a daily basis, a drop of around 50 per cent in the past three years. 182 of these are in Mountjoy.
Many of Ireland’s prisons were built over a century ago and have not been refurbished in many years. That, combined with the increase in the prison population led to the unhygienic practice remaining in place long after it had been abolished in other countries.
The Irish Penal Reform Trust said the move was “very positive”.
Separately, 1,606 prisoners – almost 40 per cent of the total – were required to use the toilet in the presence of another prisoner.
The census of the Irish prison system found that close to half of all prisoners are being kept in individual cells. However at least 120 prisoners are being kept in cells which accommodate 4 or more prisoners.
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Bald, high blood pressure, type A blood, 65 years old, no haircut, I’m a gonner.
@john howard: If you are bald, what haircut were you expecting to get?
@john howard: On the bright side, the rest of us have to wash our hair after going to the chemist. You get to save time there!
I’ll stop reading the Journal so.
Fascinating research, who would have thought… having serious cardiovascular condition increases your risk when contracting another serious condition.
@Konrad KA:
Can’t control mine, in my 12th combination of drugs. On the plus side I had my BCG and I’m Rhesus Negative
So have I got this right? People with high blood pressure might run out of their necessary medication because they’re reluctant to go out and expose themselves to the virus?
But going short of them puts you at higher risk.
So it makes sense to get what you need – even if it means asking the chemist or the Guards to drop your blood pressure pills off for you to save you going out.
have your say