THE Jewish Representative Council of Ireland will inspect the kitchens of a jail after a prisoner complained to the High Court that his food is not kosher.The case, the first of its kind in Ireland, has been brought by a Jewish prisoner who was extradited to Ireland from the United Kingdom to stand trial for alleged sexual offences.
The prisoner complained to the High Court that his constitutional rights are being infringed by the failure of the Irish Prison Service to serve him kosher food in Cloverhill Prison.
"I should not be punished or tortured, I have not had a proper meal in months and I am entitled to three kosher meals a day without exception," the prisoner told the High Court.
"This is religious discrimination," he said.
"Muslims get Halal food. I feel abused every day of the week, there is nothing in the Irish Constitution that suggests I can be subjected to such abuse.
"If my food is not prepared in accordance with Jewish rules, it is not kosher. If you use the same pots and pans (used to prepare other prisoners' foods) it is not kosher."
The prisoner took the legal action days before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year festival that commemorates the creation of the world.
Rosh Hashanah, which lasts for two days, began last Saturday but the High Court refused the reliefs sought by the prisoner after ruling that it was satisfied that Cloverhill prison had taken every step to ensure that the prisoner's dietary requirements were being met.
Resolve
The prison's deputy governor, Ronan Maher, acceded to a recommendation that emerged during the proceedings that the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland -- with whom Cloverhill has been liasing to resolve the dispute -- visit the prison to inspect the kitchens.
This would allow the Irish-Jewish authorities to advise the authorities and confirm that the prisoner's dietary requirements are being met.
Kosher food is produced according to a strict set of standards and is not solely confined to avoiding pork.
Dairy and meat must not be mixed and care must be taken with the way food is obtained, stored and prepared. Non-kosher and kosher instruments and food must be kept apart.
Jewish inmates in America have filed numerous lawsuits to force prisons to provide them with kosher meals.
As a result of the litigation, Jewish kosher diet task forces have sprung up throughout America to supervise the preparation of kosher food for inmates there.
Earlier this year a pan-European Chaplains' conference was held in the Netherlands to discuss the plight of an estimated 3,500 Jewish prisoners In Europe.
Rabbis, Jewish community leaders, chaplains, justice ministers, prison officials, jurists and lawyers from 62 countries across Europe attended the three-day discussion.
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