POA tells of prison violence

Assaults on prison officers are on the increase and management in the Irish Prison Service is more intent on "playing them down" in the media rather than addressing the increasing culture of violence in Irish jails, the president of the Prison Officers' Association has said.

Speaking last night at the POA annual conference in Co Clare, the association's president, Mr Gabriel Keaveney, said the past 12 months had seen prison officers targeted at their workplace and at their homes, often by very violent criminals. In one attack a female prison officer was knocked unconscious. In another, a prison officer's wrist was broken, excrement had been thrown on officers by inmates and there had been a "litany of other incidents".

"Why in the space of a few years has it become OK and acceptable to assault a prison officer in the workplace, and why is nothing been done about it?" Mr Keaveney asked.

"I want to state clearly here today that it is not OK to abuse, threaten, or assault a prison officer in their place of work or elsewhere for that matter. The only response to these ongoing assaults by prison service management is to play them down in the media.

"Winning the PR battle seems to be more of a priority than dealing with the issue itself," he said, adding prisons had also seen an increase in violence among the prison population. There had been a number of serious incidents where inmates had been injured. Earlier this year, one prisoner in Mountjoy was stabbed to death. This crime was still unresolved."

The conference is due to formally open this morning, when the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, is due to address delegates.