Posted by 4th November, 2009: This Article was written,
nothing has changed in Irish Prisons
For the attention of Judge Michael Reilly, Inspector of Prisons
Articles written by Fred
In the last couple of weeks, we have experienced two serious semi riots and attacks in our prisons – Mountjoy: sadly as usual, one prisoner hospitalised and two members of staff – sadly it was stabbing incident. But I ask the question – Are we really receiving the true facts and figures of what really happens in Mountjoy prison on a daily basis? The answer: We are certainly not and also I apologise for using the word ‘figures’, I mean human beings.
In 1996, the Maxwell and Morris Report https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=ALeKk01XkLpXR_4PEcKfEu__yPXnBnHp4w:1591715182133&q=Maxwell+and+Morris+Report+1996&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjlvI6QgfXpAhVBXRUIHbRvARQQBSgAegQIDBAn&biw=941&bih=852 of a family group conference in New Zealand asked the question does Restorative Justice really work? Interviews were carried out with young people and their parents. The interviews explored issues such as early childhood experiences, the impact of the family in relation to prison and subsequent life events afterwards. Re-offending was assessed on the basis of court records of convictions and the sample classified into groups of ‘persistently reconvicted’; ‘non re-convicted’ and ‘others’. Multivariate statistical strategies were used to identify significant factors that predict those likely to be reconvicted. The study concluded – the analysis supports the view that re-conviction was not the outcome that is simply determined by early life events. What happens at the family group conference can be critical but more so the events that happen after the family group conference.
To put this in simple English. An insight into the youth justice system in New Zealand found out that prevention, tragedy and planning at an early stage was crucial to the change and transformation of the young person’s behaviour towards adulthood.
Out of this conference came a very precious gem of human experience and this is to explore every aspect of the problem of crime among the young. As one researcher put it, you can have all the conferences you want, you can have all the academics and guest speakers you choose, you can have all the PR spin and your face on TV as if you are solving the problems, but you are not. Why, because, when you leave out the families, the young offenders, and the ex-prisoners from these conferences and their personal feedback, you are wasting taxpayers money and above all, not helping the people caught in the penal system.
Some months ago in the Chester Beatty Library, Liam Herrick – Irish Penal Reform Trust https://www.iprt.ie/ and his followers held a conference. As I sat down for a while in the lobby, I watched all the well heeled members of the Irish elite enter with their expensive clothes and brollies and yet, apart from myself, there was not one ex-prisoner there. The Irish Penal Reform Trust are financed by various agencies through Grants. They also have a members board and they also say in their amazing format of literature – their yearning to interact with people that went through the Irish Penal system. Personally, I find this an insult to my intelligence. Having a blog on the Irish Left Review maybe in their minds interactive but going through it, the articles are written from themselves and about themselves without mentioning any feedback from prisoners all over this country.
The outcome also of the Maxwell and Morris Research and also the Andrews Research of 1999 showed that programmes for young people should be to acquire skills while in custody – education is deemed to be the key factor and also to remedy deficiencies such as psychological problems, drug and alcohol abuse and of course learning deficits. Also programmes must be responsive to the particular populations i.e. environmental for whom they are offered and be provided in community settlings rather than in custodial institutions.
I will close by saying – the Department of Justice – the Building maybe new but the mindset is not transparent. It is not open and above all, it is accountable only to itself. So Judge Reilly and his staff should not be compromised in anyway by the ‘wink and the nod’ of the politics of the Irish Justice system. I wish the IPRT well also but reading Mr. Herrick’s article on the Independent several weeks ago – it did not give me much hope as to where he is coming from because if he goes back to his own article, he left the blame at the latter part of his opinion, at the door of the young offender and I thought ‘blame’ was not part of reform.
Yours sincerely,
An ex human being who went through the System and came out with a very bad stain of secrecy and corruption from within.
PS: After reading the story of Sr. Sarah Clarke – ‘No Faith in the System’, I can suggest that this book is worth reading for everyone connected with prison work. The book by Sr. Sarah is introduced by her old friend, former Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds and her legacy of her work in relation to Irish prisoners in the 1970’s, in London, will live on forever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
21st October 2009
For the attention of Judge Michael Reilly, Inspector of Prisons.
Dear Judge Reilly,
I wish you the very best in your new post. It will not be easy and I am sure you will find it transformative leaving the power of your own court room to be at the coal face of the Irish Penal System. This will be a major experience for you and all your staff. I have had many interactions with the late Judge Kinlon on the way forward re. prison reform. I found the man to be a completely honourable and at the time of his tenure, a very passionate man in his quest for major reforms in the Irish Prison Regime.
I recall the first time, I went down the stairs in hand cuffs in the Bridewell chained to a prison warder. The clear memory of the steel against my wrist and the pull of that steel, if I did not walk in the same pattern as the warder. I will go a little further by saying. When I walk my Jack Russell now and by accident, if I pull the lead, I actually say ‘Sorry, Jack’. You then sit in a cell in the Bridewell totally in fear, your hands trembling, your stomach churning, not knowing what is next but knowing, your freedom is gone for a period of time. The prison van will come and take you to Mountjoy, Portlaoise or where ever you are being sent to.
At that time, some were processed at Mountjoy and then sent on to Portlaoise. Your first night in the cell – the word lonely could not describe it. You are deep within your own thoughts. ‘The piss pot is in the corner’. It is 8.30 p.m. and you know that your cell door will not open for the next 12 hours. Morning comes – the door opens loudly – you did not get a good night’s sleep naturally. The environment is hostile. Society say it is necessary but I often wondered what humanity says.
Our prison system apart from a TV in cells in the modern prisons e.g. Castlerea prison, the Midlands Prison, Wheatfield hasn”t changed in 40 years. The services e.g. welfare, education, probation, and above all respect and dignity may be super efficient on paper but I can assure you Judge Reilly, they are lacking in every area, I mentioned. The inner city of Dublin, Limerick and Cork City have families with third and fourth generation of the same bloodline going through our prison system. The present President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, in the early 1980’s, as a young journalist for RTE mentioned one evening on RTE 1 that parts of Limerick were so badly infra-structured and the poverty being so visible because of alcohol and drug abuse, rightly predicted that there would be trouble ahead. How right the President was? The training of prison staff is totally inadequate. The training of prison management is totally non existent and I say this Judge Reilly because for legal reasons, I cannot name names but sometimes in the mornings in certain prisons you would hear a shout ‘Unlock the Stables and Let the Animals Out’ – I hope this has changed.
I see now we have exceeded 4,000 in our prison population for the first time for years due to the chaos which exists totally at the feet of some of our Judiciary. Judge Reilly, with the highest respect Sir, some people in prison today could be paying their fines on the outside, paying their debts on the outside and saving the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of euros. At the moment I am doing a research study among people who have gone through, as they call it, the ages of Hell. Example: Dangan, Letterfrack, Kilkenny, and all the other places of abuse. Some of these youngsters sadly became serious criminals with a deep hatred against the system that took away their childhood and innocence and gradually spent more years in our jails. Society has to take some responsibility for this.
I read in the newspapers of late of a new group called the Irish Penal Reform group. I have written to these people. Sadly, they haven’t the common decency to respond.. I think the man’s name is Herrick who leads up the IPRT. He calls himself an executive director. I thought first he must have worked with Diageo before I figured out, he actually works, I believe for the improvement of conditions in our prisons. So basically, Mr. Herrick should be on the same line of purpose as yourselves. Recently, I caught the name on a site called the Irish Left Review and noticed Mr. Herrick’s name on his personal blog i.e. penal reform and also one of his colleagues Ms. Chinneide. Blogs do not help people going through our prison system. Blogs, not just to me personally but to some psychologists in a recent article on the FT which stated ‘blogs were for people with egos and who want to be noticed’. Now, I am not going to waste my time, and I am certainly not trying to lecture Mr. Herrick and his coharts on the how the approach the improvement of the conditions of young peoples’ lives in prison. Writing articles on media papers and a few lines on RTE 1 doesn’t do anything at all.
I noticed also that these blogs don’t include any youngsters; they don’t include any opinions from ex prisoners; they just have a research cycle and statisitics – again back to numbers and more numbers – the same as 40 years ago. This morning I received a letter from Eamon Gilmore TD Labour which stated ‘Further to our telephone conversation at my office on the 14th of October, I would like to advise you, that I have no involvement with the Irish Left Review or with a certain citizen journalism site (name on request).‘ Best Wishes , Eamon Gilmore. This really intrigues me as to what the Irish Penal Reform Trust are doing on the site and who is Donnagh Brennan of Dublin Opinion Blog who runs the Irish Left Review? The main point I am trying to make is ‘Forget the ego blogs’ – there should be a collective, coherent, structured and planned output between the Probabtion Services, Families of young people, Gardai, and above all the Department of Education and FAS could come on board i.e. restructured to help and prevent young people from going down the stairs of the Bridewell. The first and foremost to anyone’s mind in relation to working in the Penal System is the welfare, the recovery, the rehabilitation, and above all education for the young offenders and that may prevent in future years repetitive offending.
Judge Reilly, I will get back to you, if you so wish. Again. I wish you the very best in a very difficult and tedious road ahead but reading some of your material over the weekend I feel you are a man that will get a job done.
Yours sincerely
G (a troubled soul, ex prisoner and now hopefully about to go on my own personal campaign to help young people on the streets of Dublin).
A saint has a past and a criminal has a future – Oscar Wilde
Please note: this posting was written by A person, with many internal sources within the Prisons walls/ (It appeared in my inbox for 2009).
FRED: What actually changes over time especially for people who are sent to prison. We need to get the right people to Research the problems in our Prisons, we know Drugs is the No 1 culprit for much harm to health and lives, and we are fully aware of the problems with Staff who themselves are often addicted to alcohol and one can imagine possibly illegal drugs too. We will write more on this again, and maybe mention some names of the low life “Screws”, who hated their Job, and Prisoners suffered in silence, since this was written Herrick has left the Irish Penal Reform Trust and has been promoted to the Irish Council for Civil Liberties https://www.iccl.ie/, having worked for a short period for President Michael D. Higgins. Fred
Judge Michael Reilly deceased: Report on Prisons link http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/reilly-rpt-Dec10
Who Watches the Watchers? 