The living conditions in the country’s only dedicated jail for people on remand awaiting trial has the potential to “create highly volatile and unsafe situations”, the inspector of prisons has said. This finding was based on an inspection conducted during May 2023, when 441 inmates were housed in Cloverhill Remand Prison, west Dublin, which had a maximum capacity of 433. Since that unannounced inspection, prisoner numbers at Cloverhill have increased to 514 (+17%), as of Thursday, but the maximum capacity has remained unchanged, at 433 spaces. File pictureThe OIP report on Cork Prison, based on an inspection in March-April 2023, underlines how the overcrowding crisis has worsened. The OIP said overcrowding in Mountjoy Prison, based on an inspection in November-December 2022, had the potential to exacerbate violence.

Source: Irish Examiner January 16, 2026 16:29 UTC