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Sarah Harte: We need political courage and social confidence to change our penal philosophy

Prisoners in local prisons received over €330,000 in pocket money from the state last year.

Ireland currently has 11 prisoners who have been in jail for longer than 35 years.

According to Freedom of Information figures released to Newstalk, nearly half of the total was found in Mountjoy jail. A total of 391.5 litres of 'hooch' was seized in eight jails across the country last year. 49% of last year's total was seized in Mountjoy Prison - involving 192 litres of homemade alcohol. That's followed by 82 litres in Portlaoise, 41 in Wheatfield Prison in Dublin and 35 in Cork jail. The total figure is almost exactly the same as 2019, when 395.5 litres of hooch was seized. John Cuffe, a criminologist and former prison officer, says such alcohol has been popular among in...

1,251 drug seizures in Irish prisons in 2020  By Alison O'Reilly There were 1,251 drug seizures in Irish prisons last year.  There were 479 in Wheatfield Prison here in Dublin - which was the highest in the country.  According to Freedom of Information figures, Mountjoy and Cloverhill jails were the next highest.  Retired prison officer, John Cuffe, says dramatic action is needed to reduce the numbers. "If you want to eradicate it you are going to have to change a lot of stuff in prisons.  "I worked in Arbour Hill a small prison, 120, everybody was wor...