Who can provide support?

The following organisations provide advice and/or assistance to prisoners and former prisoners, and their friends and families.

NATIONAL

Families of People in Prison  |  www.familiesofprisoners.ie

A confidential support service is available for families of people in prison in Ireland. This service is run by people with long experience of supporting people in prison and their families outside. They can be contacted by telephone or text on 087 609 7686 or familynewd@gmail.com

Prisoner 'Listening' Schemes  |  www.samaritans.org

The Samaritans provide a support service in six of Dublin’s prisons. The Samaritans have also set up listener schemes in prisons in the Dublin area, but there is progress to introduce the scheme into all closed prisons. Prisoners who wish to use the listener scheme contact a member of staff between 8pm and 8am. The listener and his fellow prisoner are then brought to a listening suite, a neutral room where they can talk uninterrupted and unsupervised. The system is entirely confidential.

Find more information on the Prison Listening Schemes here.

Probation Service | www.probation.ie

An agency within the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, which assesses and assists former offenders in the community and works with offenders in prisons and detention centres. It also provides information for prisoners and their families.

The Probation Service provides a list of services that are available to offenders/ex-offenders, please find more information here. 

IASIO | www.iasio.ie/

IASIO (Irish Association for the Social Integration of Offenders), formerly run as a project of BITCI, is the only national community-based organisation for adult offenders in the criminal justice system with a specific focus on alternatives to both offending and re-imprisonment. IASIO provides direct services to offenders both in the community and in all Irish prisons, including the Linkage Service, the Prison GATE Service, and the Resettlement Service.

Contact details for services in all areas are available here.

DUBLIN AREA

FusionCPL  | www.fusioncpl.ie/

FusionCPL is based in Cherry Orchard and works with those from Ballyfermot, Palmerstown and Chapelizod who are drug-free or stable.  The aim of FusionCPL is to provide a link between the community and prison based services through treatment and rehabilitation. The Community Prison Links Worker will work with the client in prison, to ensure that they are prepared for being released from prison, and will continue to work with the client for a minimum of 6 weeks post release. The client must be 18 years old or older, and will be assessed to ensure that they are drug-free or stabilised in their drug use. For further information or to make a referral please call – 01 623 1499 or email info@fusioncpl.ie

Care After Prison | www.careafterprison.ie

Care After Prison is a peer-led charity organisation which provides information, support and referral for ex-offenders, their families, and victims of crime. The service offers ex-offenders a safe environment where they identify areas of need within their lives where support is needed to continue with their goal of leading crime-free lives.

As part of CAP's information and support service, they also work closely with the families and loved ones of people under sentence and awaiting sentencing. The Freephone Support, Information and Advice Line is open Monday to Friday 10am - 5pm on 1800 839 970.  The Freephone Family Support Line is open Monday and Wednesday Evenings 6pm - 10pm on 1800 839 970.  The Peer Support Line is available on 086 7925747 Monday and Thursday 5pm - 7pm and Saturday 2-4.30pm. You can also contact CAP at info@careafterprison.ie. 

PACE | www.paceorganisation.ie

PACE provides training and accommodation facilities for ex-prisoners, and provides a link between their life in prison and their new life in the wider community. Tel: 01 8231000 or Email: headoffice@paceorganisation.ie

CASP | www.casp.ie 

CASP (Clondalkin Addiction Support Programme) provides a Community /Prison Liaison Service to people from the Clondalkin area who are 18 years old and upwards, who are drug users currently in Prison or about to be released. The services available include a Community Prison Liaison Worker and a Post-Release Group. Tel: 01-6166750 or Email: info@casp.ie

CASP, in association with 'Changing Ireland', have also produced 11 short videos offering advice for people who have a family member or partner going to prison for the first time.  

Merchant’s Quay Ireland | www.mqi.ie

A voluntary organisation providing a wide range of services to people, including former prisoners, who are homeless or are drug users. Tel: 01-5240160 or Email: info@mqi.ie

CORK AREA

Cork Alliance Centre | corkalliancecentre.com/

The Cork Alliance Centre supports ex-prisoners to change and progress in their lives and integrate into society; it supports people to make a fresh start in terms of reducing offending and engaging in positive participation in individual, family and community life. The centre is at Robert Scott House, 6, St. Patrick's Quay, Cork; open Mon - Thurs 8.30am - 5.30pm and Fri 8.30am-2pm. Drop-in, phone or contact for an appointment: T: 021 455 7878, or 087 689 0210 or email: corkalliancecentre@eircom.net 

St Nicholas Trust 

Set up in 2008, the St Nicholas Trust offers help and support to anybody affected by imprisonment – in particular the families of prisoners. The group meets in Cork city-centre on a regular basis; they run a Family Support Group where people can come to talk in a safe, confidential, non-judgmental environment to people who have been through the same experience. If it is your first time going to the prison for a visit, a member of the group can accompany you and explain the procedure to you. The Trust has also produced a booklet, Visiting Cork Prison, available from tel: 086 1768266 or 086 1768267 or email: stnicholastrust@gmail.com 

LIMERICK AREA

Bedford Row Project | www.bedfordrow.ie

Based in Limerick, The Bedford Row Family Project supports family members affected by the imprisonment of one or more of the members of the family, and works towards the re-integration of ex-prisoners into their families, their communities, and society in general. Among other activities, Bedford Row staff: are in attendance in the waiting area of Limerick Prison during all visiting times; offer support and counselling services to family members; and work with other agencies to provide all the information that prisoners' families might need. Tel: 061-315332 or Email: info@bedfordrow.ie

PALLS | www.palls.ie 

PALLS  is a project, based within an education and training centre, which provides individual support for purposeful change for people involved with the Probation Service and the criminal justice system. Tel: 061 6081890 Email: info@palls.ie

WATERFORD AREA

U-Casadh Project | www.ucasadh.ie

The U-Casadh Project helps ex-prisoners re-integrate into society, through offering practical support. U-Casadh helps ex-prisoners get access to training, education and development programmes. Tel: 051 830479 

U-Casadh works with ex-prisoners aged over 24 in Waterford; Treo Portlairge supports ex-prisoners aged 16-23.