As part of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) Strategic Plan 2023-2026, one of our main goals is to campaign for a progressive criminal justice system that upholds human rights. Engagement with the media plays a large part in that as we discuss our evidence-based research, advocate for people in prison, and work to change attitudes and challenge misconceptions about people in the criminal justice system.
Below you will see a list of most of IPRT's media features including recordings of radio discussions, links to TV appearances, and access to written articles and opinion pieces. You can also listen back to long-form recorded discussions with podcast hosts on our Podcast webpage.
14th February 2010
"The government should ‘urgently address’ allegations of ill treatment of people in custody, the Council of Europe has said following a review of Irish prisons and Garda stations," writes John Burke in 'The Sunday Business Post'.
10th February 2010
IPRT calls on the government to release the findings of an anti-torture group that recently visited Ireland.
8th February 2010
Liam Herrick talks to David Harvey on 4FM's 'Lunchtime on 4' about the problem of drugs in prison and the opportunity prison offers to break the habits of addiction.
1st February 2010
The issue of mandatory sentencing for burglary was the subject of RTE's 'The Frontline' this week; IPRT's Liam Herrick and others voice their opposition to such moves.
19th January 2010
IPRT's Liam Herrick spoke to Today FM's 'The Last Word' on a pilot project between the Probation Service and Dublin City Countil which will see convicted offenders do community service, such as cleaning graffiti from city walls.
11th January 2010
IPRT's Liam Herrick was one of the panellists discussing what society’s moral response should be to someone who takes another person’s life. The programme focussed on sentencing, and the need to achieve justice for families of victims while showing fairness to perpetrators.
1st December 2009
Penal reform campaigners have called for an end to the practice of locking up teenagers in prison for up to 23 hours a day for their own protection, writes Carl O'Brien in the Irish Times.
30th November 2009
An analysis piece by Dr Ursula Kilkelly, Chairperson of IPRT, on the launch of 'Detention of Children in Ireland: International Standards and Best Practice.)
30th November 2009
Liam Herrick, IPRT Executive Director, talks to 4FM's 'Lunchtime'; Dr Ursula Kilkelly, IPRT Chairperson, talks to RTÉ's 'Drivetime'.
9th November 2009
The European Court of Human Rights rules that prison overcrowding in itself can violate Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to freedom from torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.)
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.