The Prison Service has said it will shortly begin a full security audit of the Dóchas Centre female prison in Dublin after convicted murderer Charlotte Mulhall was photographed holding a knife in the jail.
A photograph published in a number of newspapers shows Mulhall holding a large knife to the neck of a man who appears to be holding a birthday cake.
It was apparently taken with a mobile phone in the kitchen of the Dóchas Centre, which is attached to Mountjoy jail, some time before early July. According to reports, Mulhall has now been moved to another prison.
In a statement, the director general of the Irish Prison Service Brian Purcell, said the governor of the Dóchas centre is carrying out an investigation into how the incident occurred.
"However, evidence we have to date indicates that the photograph was taken over a year ago, in the prison kitchen where the prisoner worked and the knife itself was a kitchen knife."
Mr Purcell added: "Operational security issues are of paramount importance to the Prison Service and accordingly, we already have a rolling programme of security reviews within the prison system and in this context, we will, shortly, be conducting a full security audit of the Dóchas Centre."
"As part of the new package of security measures currently being rolled out across the prisons system, new airport style security measures, which include walk through detectors and x-ray scanners are scheduled to go live in the Dóchas Centre, commencing on September 4th.
"Everyone coming into the prison, prisoners, visitor and staff will have to pass through the new measures and all handbags, briefcases, clothing etc will be subject to screening. Sniffer dogs are already deployed in the Mountjoy complex and they service the Dóchas Centre."
Mulhall (24), a mother of one, was given a life sentence in December 2006 for murder, and her older sister, Linda (31), a mother of four, was given a 15-year term for the manslaughter of Farah Swaleh Noor, who had been dating their mother, Kathleen.
Charlotte stabbed the victim up to 20 times with a kitchen knife, while her sister admitted hitting him "a good few times" in the head with a claw hammer.
After killing Mr Noor, both sisters spent hours sawing up his body in their mother's Dublin apartment at Richmond Cottages, Ballybough.
They later dumped his limbs and torso in the nearby Royal Canal before taking his head on the bus to Tallaght where it was hidden in a park, before being disposed of in another location. The head and penis of the victim, who was from Kenya, have never been found.
When passing judgment in the case, Mr Justice Paul Carney said it was "the most grotesque case of killing that has occurred within my professional lifetime".
The Labour Party’s justice spokesman, Pat Rabbitte, said the publication of the photograph raises “serious questions” about the adequacy of security procedures within the prison system. He asked how Mulhall could be in possession of a potentially lethal knife, and why male and female prisoners were allowed socialise in jail.
He also said the photograph raises doubts about the Government’s commitment to halt the use of mobile phones in Irish prisons.
“The Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, has to make an immediate statement explaining how this incident was allowed to happen and outlining the steps he intends to take to ensure that there is proper supervision of those serving serious prison sentences,” he said.
Fine Gael justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan said prisoners were holding up two fingers to the criminal justice system.
“This extraordinary picture shows that prison security is a shambles and is another major embarrassment for the Government. It begs [sic] belief that a convicted knife murderer would be allowed access to a potentially lethal kitchen knife.
"I would also like to know what a male prisoner was doing in the Dochas women’s prison," Mr Flanagan added.
"This is just the latest in a run of incidents where high-profile prisoners were discovered using mobiles, including John Gilligan. If these phones can still be smuggled into prison, in spite of years of promises for better security, then who knows what else is getting in?"
According to Irish Prison Service statistics, more than 2,000 mobile phones were seized by prison authorities last year. Of those, 718 phones were found in Mountjoy, the highest total for a prison in the State, followed by 255 seized in Limerick Prison.
Since May 2007 the Prisons Act has made it an offence to have a telecommunications device in prison, and the offender may be fined €5,000 and imprisoned for one year by the District Court, or both.
On conviction on indictment, a fine of €10,000 or imprisonment for five years or both may be imposed in the Circuit Court.
Last week, the Bebo social-networking website of a prisoner in Limerick Prison was closed down after it was discovered the inmate's online profile had been updated since he was remanded in custody earlier this summer.
Recent images of Liam Keane (23), of Singland Gardens, Ballysimon, Limerick, were uploaded on to the site, and at least one picture was apparently taken on a mobile phone in a prison cell.
Keane was remanded in custody this May for possession of a loaded Glock pistol.