Open possibilities?

27th January 2011

Following on from last week’s blog about an open prison in Norway, last Friday IPRT visited Shelton Abbey open prison in Co. Wicklow.

After some challenging visits to our closed prisons over the last few years, I would have to say that it was one of the more encouraging afternoons in my time at IPRT. Shelton is an impressive example of what the Irish Prison Service is capable of delivering, building on positive staff/prisoner relationships and a commitment to providing meaningful activity for all prisoners. The excellent facilities and idyllic location of the prison are obviously huge advantages, but the overall sense of constructive engagement by staff and prisoners was palpable. The stable sentence profile of the prisoners is another key factor in the capacity of staff to plan services for prisoners.

One question we were left with was whether any assessment of reoffending and other outcomes of the programmes available at Shelton Abbey has been carried out. We strongly suspect that such research would confirm the anecdotal evidence that Shelton is achieving significant results in terms of post-release behaviour and re-offending.Research that followed up with prisoners post release could provide invaluable data on the relative value of open prison settings more generally as a step towards gradual, planned and supported reintegration of prisoners back into the community.

The second thought I was left with in leaving the prison was how terrible a loss Shanganagh is to the prison system here.Shelton proves how efficient and effective open facilities can be.This is even more true for many young prisoners.The closure of Spike Island and Shanganagh has had the effect of more young men of great potential spending their sentences in closed prisons such as St. Pat's when they could have benefitted from the opportunities that a more constructive and open environment would have provided.In this context, it was especially disappointing to hear that the proposed extension of Shelton Abbey may not now go ahead for financial reasons, at a time when expansion in the closed estate goes on apace.