The man found hanged in his cell at Arbour Hill in Dublin on Thursday night was named yesterday as Mr Brian Bernard Carey, who was in his 60s.
An investigation is continuing into the death of Mr Carey, who had been on remand since March on a rape charge.
He was discovered shortly after 7 p.m. hanging by a makeshift rope made of bed-sheets. A Garda investigation has begun, and details of the incident have been passed to the prisons' Suicide Prevention Group. The Department of Justice is conducting a separate inquiry.
This latest incident brings to 25 the number of suicides in prisons since 1990. Of those, 23 were caused by hanging. The total number of deaths in prison custody since 1990 is 44, with 11 due to overdoses and eight to natural causes.
In 1990 there were three suicides by hanging and one overdose; in 1991 four were by hanging, and there was one overdose. Two were remand prisoners. In 1992 two prisoners hanged themselves, and one cut his throat. There was one overdose and one from natural causes. One was on remand. The following year there was one death by hanging and two overdoses. One was a prisoner awaiting sentence.
There were three deaths by hanging in 1994 and two overdoses. One was a remand prisoner. In 1995 one prisoner died by hanging, and there were two overdoses. One was on remand. The figure increased in 1996 when five prisoners hanged themselves, three died from natural causes and one from overdose. Three were on remand.
In 1997 three were deaths by hanging, and there was one overdose. One prisoner was on remand. Two deaths by natural causes were of a convicted murderer, Brendan O'Donnell, and a paedophile priest, Brendan Smyth.
This year there have been two suicides, one by fire and the one this week from hanging. There were two from natural causes.
Yesterday the deputy general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association, Mr Tom Hoare, told The Irish Times that on average there were three or four attempted suicides in Mountjoy Prison every week. "Prison officers are continually saving lives. Prison officers save more than they lose, and there are many prisoners who are still alive because of their vigilance," Mr Hoare said. There was an increase in staff reporting trauma.
Some years ago a national steering group was established to examine each suicide and see what lessons could be learned. There were also local steering committees at each prison which met quarterly or more often if required. "The committees don't wait for a suicide, they are constantly meeting," he said.
All prison officer recruits now received suicide awareness training, and all existing officers had also been trained.
In the prisons there were certain inmates who were specially watched as they were at high risk. In some prisons this could be a large number.
"Remand prisoners are under particular strain with the trial coming up. Also the staff wouldn't always have as much information on remand prisoners. Their profile may not be as full as the one on the convicted prisoner. Some profiles might involve psychiatric reports which would only come out at the trial," he said.
"At the end of the day, we can't prevent suicides. We can only improve our monitoring system and detection system," he said.
Dr Ian O'Donnell, director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, said that in the rush to build more prisons the Department of Justice had failed to properly match prisoners to the proper institutions. For instance, there were mentally-ill prisoners in Mountjoy and people on remand in prisons only meant for convicted prisoners.
He said mentally ill offenders on minor charges should be dealt with in other ways, maybe by psychiatric services outside prison. It was to be hoped that the Department of Justice would carry out an open and swift investigation into most recent tragic events. "The success of penal policy should be measured by the quality of regimes rather than the quantity of prison cells," Dr O'Donnell said.
Yesterday the Democratic Left TD, Ms Liz McManus, called for a thorough review of anti-suicide procedures in prison and an expansion of prison psychological services.