ANNE KELLY,
Madam, - As former members of the visiting committee of Shanganagh Prison, we are appalled at the decision of the Minister for Justice to close it.
Shanganagh is an open prison for young teenage boys who have usually just begun to get into trouble with the law. From our experience most of the boys can be rehabilitated and many of the prison officers and teachers were doing an excellent job in this area. The boys studied, played games and worked in the gardens and greenhouses. There were carpentry and art classes and the boys were trained in computer operation. There was a state-of-the-art facility for teaching the boys the basics of home economics and life skills. The importance of what was being offered to the boys in Shanganagh cannot be overstated.
To close this place, at a time when it has never been more needed, indicates how low down on the Minister's list of priorities come the safety of the public and the rehabilitation of young offenders before they become hopeless recidivists.
To do so purely on financial grounds shows a lack of understanding of the importance of long-term planning in the area of offender rehabilitation that is appalling in a man in such a responsible position. To throw young men, not yet involved in serious and violent crime, into the maelstrom that is St Patrick's Institution is to destroy almost any chance they have of rehabilitation; and society will suffer the consequences.
We appeal to the Minister, even at this late date, to reconsider his decision and to keep Shanganagh open. - Yours, etc.,
ANNE KELLY,
MARIE LOUISE COLBERT,
MÁIRÍN DE BURCA,
Silchester Road,
Glenageary,
Co Dublin.