Reported Treatment of Prisoners and Chaplaincy in Dóchas Centre Alarming

25th September 2020

A joint statement from the Irish Penal Reform Trust and the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice:

The Irish Penal Reform Trust and the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice are alarmed today by reports in the national press about the culture and environment endured by female prisoners and staff in the Dóchas Centre at Mountjoy. We condemn in the strongest possible terms any inhumane treatment of prisoners, and especially so during a pandemic when the resources made available to prisoners are curtailed.

Chaplaincy is a pivotal service within the prison environment and both organisations are dismayed to hear reports that suggest systemic marginalisation and undermining of this office. We call on the Department of Justice to initiate a thorough and transparent review to address the concerns that have been raised in both today’s media reports, as well as those detailed in media coverage of unpublished Prison Chaplain annual reports in recent weeks.

We believe that the lack of published prison inspection reports has potentially created an environment where everyone in the prison system, staff and prisoners alike, are vulnerable to mistreatment. A strong commitment was made by Minister for Justice Ms Helen McEntee TD to resourcing the new Framework for the Inspection of Prisons in Ireland last week, and we welcome this. It is essential that a programme of robust prison inspections is now commenced, and that reports by the Inspector of Prisons and Prison Visiting Committees are published in a timely fashion.

Fíona Ní Chinnéide
Executive Director
Irish Penal Reform Trust
CONTACT: +353 (0) 87 181 2990
www.iprt.ie

Keith Adams
Social Justice Advocate
Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice
CONTACT: +353 (0) 86 165 2917
www.jcfj.ie 

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NOTES TO EDITORS

• Declaration of Interest: Kevin Hargaden, the Director and Social Theologian of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice is married to Claire Hargaden, the Prison Chaplain at the Dóchas Centre.
• The organisations were responding to reports by Michael Clifford in the Irish Examiner, available here and here.
• The most recent inspection report on Dóchas was an Interim Report published in 2013. At the time, the late Inspector of Prisons noted Dóchas had “to a degree, lost its way”. A full report was due to be completed 6 months following the interim report, to assess progress, but no report was published. All prison inspection reports are available here: https://www.oip.ie/inspection-of-prisons-reports/
• 2018 Annual Report of the Dóchas Centre Visiting Committee: https://bit.ly/3iYcplk