The former governor of Mountjoy prison has said that only a ''culture
change'' of at least ''two to three generations'' will adequately
tackle the prison system problems revealed by chaplains this week.
Reacting to the release of the Irish Prison Chaplains' Report 2010,
John Lonergan said that ''we still haven't tackled the causes of
crime''.
Speaking this week, Mr Lonergan said that Irish
society needed to commit to a ''culture change that understands it will
take two to three generations for that change to take place''.
''Prisoners,'' he said, ''are the same people, coming from the same
places with the same problems as 40 years ago. We know the blackspots,
the amenities and education that are lacking. Unless we tackle these, it
won't change.''
On one issue of major concern to chaplains, that of overcrowding, Mr
Lonergan said: ''Imagine if an extra 300 pupils were shoved into a
secondary school and the massive difficulties that would bring. So too
for the prison system and its services.''
Commending the good work
undertaken by the chaplains, teachers and trainers within prisons, Mr
Lonergan said that overcrowding was placing unacceptable pressure on all
and the result was ''people just walking around exercise yards''.
This week's chaplains' report highlighted elements of what it termed a
''disaster'' in Ireland's prison policy.
It pointed out major
overcrowding in Irish prisons, the confining of some juvenile prisoners
for 23 hours a day, high drug usage rates and the use of prison for
offenders receiving less than a one year sentence, a category making up
80 per cent of those committed in 2008, while in 2009 ''5,750 (53pc)
were sentenced to three months or less''.
The only obstacle to tackling such issues and, consequently, making prisons safer, the chaplains contend ''is political will''.
There are 27 prison chaplains - priests, religious and laypeople - working in 14 prisons in Ireland.
SIC: IC/IE