Justice delayed is justice denied for the victims of crime. In the case of the Irish prison system, the findings are equally worrying. The vast majority of offenders in the prison system are serving very short sentences. Surely, the Irish public deserve to know why Ireland is so out of kilter with our Council of Europe counterparts in processing criminal cases in the courts? As Mark Garrett rightly concluded in his article: “Ireland must build a justice system that is not only fair and effective but genuinely evidence-driven”.

Source: The Irish Times February 06, 2026 16:32 UTC