THE DÓCHAS women’s prison is operating at 40 per cent over capacity following a dramatic rise in admissions, the prison governor told a conference yesterday.
Kathleen McMahon said the prison was designed for 81 inmates but is currently housing 113 women and a baby.
Ms McMahon told the agm of the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) that overcrowding was impacting badly on service levels in the prison. She also revealed that 18 of the women who were released from the prison last year have died, many from problems relating to drink and drugs.
Ms McMahon told the conference that for many women their time in Dóchas was beneficial but on release they lacked the necessary supports. Ms McMahon rarely speaks publicly and was addressing a closed session of the NWCI agm but her comments were relayed by delegates present.
She criticised the media coverage of some high-profile cases involving women prisoners. Much of what was written was false and harmful and seldom took into account the effect of coverage on the women’s families.
She also defended the spending of €100,000 last year on hairdresser training courses in the jail. Such courses provided training and raised self-esteem, she said.
Former journalist Susan McKay, the new director of the NWCI, expressed shock at the number of women who had died following release from prison and said Ms McMahon had presented a sad and stark profile of the plight of women prisoners.
She criticised Government cutbacks in funding for women, in particular the diversion of €10 million from an equality measure to the Garda’s anti-gang initiative, Operation Anvil.
