As of Friday, there were 227 women incarcerated in the Dóchas Centre. Photograph: Dara Mac DónaillA “failure of political will” to limit numbers in the largest women’s prison shows “a willingness to warehouse people in degrading and inhumane conditions”, according to an unpublished report. Almost 80 per cent of women sentenced in 2024 were for less than 12 months, it finds. Intellectually disabled women prisoners were “falling through the cracks”, states the report. Despite a “paucity” of data on intellectually disabled prisoners, it was likely to be a “significant minority” who experience prison as “frightening”.

Source: The Irish Times March 09, 2026 14:01 UTC