Almost 300 inmates will be released from prison over Christmas for periods of temporary release ranging between several hours and nine days. Some were released yesterday, and the remainder will be set free today.
The killers of Det Garda Jerry McCabe have not been granted release this year; nor has Malcolm McArthur. Dessie O'Hare, the so-called "Border Fox", has been granted temporary release for a period of four days.
O'Hare, a former leader of the INLA, is in his 17th year of a 40-year sentence, handed down in 1988 for the kidnapping of a Dublin dentist, Mr John O'Grady. He was transferred from Portlaoise Prison to Castlerea two years ago. He has enjoyed a number of periods of temporary release this year and is being prepared for his eventual full release.
McArthur (58) received a life sentence in 1982 for bludgeoning a young nurse, Bridie Gargan, to death in the Phoenix Park that year. He was also charged with shooting a farmer, Mr Donal Dunne, who had met him to sell a shotgun.
He is being held at Shelton Abbey prison in Co Wicklow. He was moved there last May following a parole board report recommending that he be moved to the open prison to test his suitability for eventual full release.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, said 294 prisoners had been granted varying periods of temporary release at Christmas under the Criminal Justice Act, 1960. This is about 9 per cent of the prisoner population and is a small reduction on the 307 inmates temporarily released over Christmas last year.
The Department of Justice said many prisoners being released were nearing the end of their sentences while others were serving relatively short sentences.
The primary concern in considering applications for Christmas release from prisoners was public safety. In addition to compassionate and humane considerations, other criteria included the nature and gravity of the offence, length of sentence served to date, prior record on temporary release, if any, and previous criminal history.
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