Security at Irish prisons has again been called into question following Tuesday's drugs haul, writes Conor Lally
FEW PEOPLE would trade places with Brian Purcell, the director general of the Irish Prison Service. When he isn't trying to contain tension and violence in overcrowded jails he's trying to stop visitors, inmates and even some prison staff from smuggling drugs and mobile phones to inmates.
Following Tuesday's weapons and drugs seizure in Dublin, garda sources said they believe that jailed gang leaders are running their criminal operations via mobile phones from their prison cells.
The man gardai have named as being suspected of organising the shipment of 41 firearms and drugs valued at €4.2 million seized on Tuesday is an imprisoned former associate of John Gilligan.
It is unfortunate for Brian Purcell that he inherited a very poorly-run prison system where mobile phones were so freely available.
His predecessor as director general of the Irish Prison Service was Sean Aylward, the current secretary general at the Department of Justice.
Mr Aylward, along with former minister for justice Michael McDowell, moved with speed to reform some elements of the criminal justice system during Mr McDowell's term as minister.
The Garda Ombudsman Commission was introduced to investigate complaints against gardaí.
In addition, the Garda Inspectorate was established to advise the Garda on the how best the force's structures and procedures should develop.
A large number of positions within the force, up to and including assistant commissioner level, were civilianised. And the Garda Reserve was introduced.
All of these developments, among many others, represented the biggest reform of the force in its history.
It all took place at lightning speed.
If Mr Aylward and Mr McDowell and his successor, Brian Lenihan had moved as quickly to eradicate mobile phones from jails the problem would have been resolved by now.
At the very least the flow of phones into jails would have slowed to a trickle.
One good place for Mr Aylward and Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to start would be to conclude, one way or the other, the seemingly perpetual pilot programme relating to mobile phone signal jamming equipment in the Midlands Prison, Portlaoise.
They could also accelerate the roll out of airport style searching systems for staff and visitors at jails.
It took a phone call to RTÉ's Livelineprogramme from Portlaoise prisoner John Daly - an armed robber from Finglas, Dublin - to alert authorities to the fact that gangland criminals had a free run in jail.
Daly made his call to Joe Duffy in May 2006 as the general election campaign was in full flight. The matter was extremely embarrassing for Mr McDowell and gardaí were ordered into Portlaoise prison.
They found not only drugs and mobile phones but plasma TVs in cells and even pet budgies.
The plasma televisions were sold to the country's most dangerous inmates through the tuck shop in Ireland's maximum security jail.
Since then the media has been drip-fed stories of large numbers of phones being seized in jails to give the impression that control of the prison service has been wrestled back from the inmates.
The alleged involvement of an inmate in the haul of drugs and guns seized on Tuesday would suggest a different story.