Just some of the findings on the reality of many prisoners with serious psychiatric illness in an inspection report by a European detention watchdog. It comes as two cases currently before the courts highlight the extreme seriousness of this issue facing not just Irish prisons, but Irish society – an issue that has worsened in many ways in recent years and one that key players have repeatedly warned about. The CPT visited relatively new units that were set up in Cork (Vulnerable Prisoner Unit) and Mountjoy (High Support Unit) for inmates with psychiatric and other needs. “In sum, the prisoners wandered idly around the unit or the yard and watched television," the report said. On the first day of its visit, the CPT said the section had 29 prisoners in the 23 operational cells.

Source: Irish Examiner November 24, 2020 21:01 UTC