Irish prisons in 'tinder box' situation
Overcrowding, drug use and poor management of prison officers' time have led to a "tinder box" situation in Irish jails where criminals band together in gangs and violence is commonplace, according to the Prison Officers Association.
The association says within the last two weeks three officers were injured in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, one sustaining a broken nose, one suffering a severe shoulder injury and a third receiving slash injuries to his chest and face. The association described as "savage" another attack on a young prison officer in Wheatfield Prison which left the officer hospitalised. Speaking at the association's annual conference in Kilkenny this morning, deputy general secretary Jim Mitchell said violence in prisons was increasing as a result of overcrowding, with stabbings and assaults a regular feature.