Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE RELEASE OF some prisoners is one option being considered by the Irish Prison Service to reduce the risk of Covid-19 spreading through prisons.
In a statement this evening, a spokesperson for the Irish Prison Service said that it was in discussions with the Department of Justice and Equality on “contingency measures” to reduce the number of people in custody.
Concerns had already been raised about the ability of overcrowded Irish prisons to cope with the spread of Covid-19.
There are currently nearly 4,200 people in Irish prisons.
Yesterday, the Irish Prison Service announced strict visiting restrictions in a bid to prevent any potential spread of the coronavirus, including limiting visits to one visit per prisoner per week and not letting any children under 18 visit the prision.
Visiting times will also be limited to 15 minutes and anyone with flu-like symptoms will be refused entry.
The statement said that “no prisoner would be granted temporary release who poses an undue risk to public safety”.
Generally prisoner populations often have poor health and underlying conditions – with many inmates coming from poorer backgrounds and having experiences of addiction and homelessness.
This means that prisoners could be especially vulnerable to Covid-19, especially in an environment where there is a movement of staff, visitors and other individuals in and out of the prison.
Infectious diseases often spread easier in prisons, with Hepatitis C, HIV and tuberculosis all posing a significant risk to inmates.
In 2014, a World Health Organisation report on prisons globally pointed to overcrowding, delays in diagnosis and a limited access to soap and water contributing to a greater risk of infection among prisoners.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Only seemed like yesterday the values were through the floor. I emigrated during the big crash and bought property/set up shop in another country. Now I’m a happy homeowner & landlord. A fair landlord. This housing stuff in Ireland really saddens me. There will prob be a twin tier society over it. People with financial power will overpay. People without financial power will struggle so badly to live. And live in horrible conditions. Very sad. Emigrating was the hardest decision I ever made. But I’m glad I did. Previous comment is correct. Boom bust is common in some places. Usually places rich in natural resources like oil etc. But it’s not something that that suits the Irish economy. Start building high rises could be the solution here
@Ronan McDermott: well said, not convinced about high rises but you are asking the questions no one wants to answer. Fair play.
@Greedylocks: I hear you about the highrises. Ballymun didn’t work out. But on a small island you can’t always build out. Maybe time to build up. Especially in Dublin. Give people somewhere respectable to live and then you’ll see the real value of these 70s style dumps that landlords are currently renting to people at extortionate rates. The value would be sfa. I’m thinking about quality of life here. As right now it’s not very good for so so many people
@Ronan McDermott: well said.
This is an extraordinary misleading economical model. We are in a cycle of boom and bust. Eventually nobody will risk lending this country money. Vulture funds are gathering to pick the bones.
@Greedylocks: the neoliberal model can only produce boom bust cycles, where the wealthy get wealthier as money is siphoned to the top. So they can ride out the storm, unless they fail to save for the inevitable crash, and those at the bottom pay the consequences. A model based on permanent growth on a planet with finite resources, what could possibly go wrong????
@Greedylocks: the neoliberal model can only produce boom bust cycles, where the wealthy get wealthier as money is siphoned to the top. So they can ride out the storm, unless they fail to save for the inevitable crash, and those at the bottom pay the consequences. A model based on permanent growth on a planet with finite resources, what could possibly go wrong????
A model based on exploiting human vulnerabilities through advertising, and serving the market, always a volatile thing, so that the market will meet all our needs. We see the failure of it all around us and blindly elect the same parties with the same policies to do the same thing again and again as if this one time it might work…….
This has been years in the making by our FG whose primary mission has been to recapitalise the banks. The homeless crisis and the unaffordability of houses is barely a thorn in the side for them.
@Quiet Goer: Surely you mean FFG .. Media not telling the true story again at local elections as FFG lose more and more ground. The people are slowly awakening….
@Willy: sf lost the most ground
We are bubbling our way to another bust.
Note that property investment trusts are selling out now to cash in at the top of the market.
These guys know when to cash in their chips.
@William Kelly: you are correct I’m afraid we will be heading for another slump , housing prices cannot keep going up and up.
It’s only in Dublin though, most of the rest of the country are still below 2013 levels
a housing bubble inflated by the European central bank policy to give money to the banks for free. we on the other hand must pay interest on that loan and the banks make money by doing nothing.
who here knows anything about Deusch Bank?
people wanna get smart very quick to what is going on again……2007
Kensington in London, Upper East side in New York, 6th arrondissement in Paris. These Dublin prices are here to stay. It’s nothing to do with ‘neo-liberal’ policies. It’s to do with supply and demand. Why can the hard left never understand this ?
@Virgil: that’s what they said last time…..
@Gus Sheridan: even with a bust, Mt Merrion, Foxrock et al will still be the priciest housing in the country
Anyone know how many in government own second properties?
@thesaltyurchin: 15 landlords sit in the dail at any given day,but I could be wrong,FG k o Connell has 8 property’s .
Our wonderful banks must be approaching solvency so.
have your say