The other news stories of the day in short...
Project diverted 91 mentally ill prisoners
A new healthcare initiative has resulted in the diversion of hundreds of people in prison with psychiatric problems into more suitable community-based treatment services.
The project was prompted by evidence that the rate of mental illness among prisoners on remand in jails is up to 40 times higher than among the general community.
Developed by staff at the Central Mental Hospital, the new service diverted a total of 91 prisoners with a mental illness into community treatment last year. This contrasts with just 19 diversions in 2005.
The diversion of minor offenders with a mental illness enhances the capacity of the Central Mental Hospital to admit higher-risk offenders charged with more severe offences.
Dr Conor O'Neill, consultant forensic psychiatrist at the hospital, said there has been considerable frustration at the large numbers of mentally ill people before the courts over relatively trivial offences. "Prisons are toxic and inappropriate places to manage people with major mental illnesses who are vulnerable in such settings, and it is not the role of the criminal justice system to arrange mental health care."
Waterford staff to get PRSI refunds
Hundreds of former employees of Waterford Crystal are to receive refunds of up to €2,000 each, a local TD has said.
The workers were forced to pay employer’s PRSI on payments from a fund established by the US investor that bought the company, but the money is now to be refunded.
The vast majority of the 800 former employees at the firm, which went into receivership in January and was sold to KPS Capital, are expected to receive refunds of between €1,000 and €2,000, according to local Fine Gael TD John Deasy.
The PRSI was levied following the establishment of a €10 million fund by KPS, which was agreed in the deal with Waterford Crystal employees who had occupied the Kilbarry premises after it went into receivership.
The staff were obliged to pay the employers’ PRSI on the payment as well as the 3 per cent employees’ levy, which the receiver declined to pay. The payment was regarded as income rather than redundancy.Mr Deasy praised Ms Coughlan for “keeping her commitment. She said she would do something and she did.” – (Waterford invests €20m in crystal comeback: Go, page 2)
Apology sought for Irish jokes in paper
The charity that backs a prison newspaper circulated in British jails has said that it is "deeply unhappy" about its decision to publish anti-Irish jokes in two recent editions, and is to order that an apology is made, writes Mark Hennessy, London Editor.
Inside Timecarried two jokes submitted by prisoners in its September issue and then dismissed a series of complaints from Irish prisoners in its October issue, when it carried a third joke.
The chief executive of the Newbridge Foundation, Chris Thomas, which backs Inside Time, said yesterday the foundation "deplores" the decision to print the jokes and was "disappointed" by the responses to the complaints from Irish prisoners and the Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas.
Mr Thomas said he intended to raise the matter "as a matter of urgency" with the chairman of the board of Inside Time, Trevor Grove, former editor of the Sunday Telegraph, and ensure that an apology is published quickly.
Joycean lecture a sound prospect
A lecture titled The Joyce of Music: An Exploration in Sound, will be delivered by Terence Killeen at the James Joyce Centre, North Great George's Street, Dublin, at 6.30pm on Monday, October 16th. Admission to the lecture, which will also feature tenor Noel O'Grady, is free.