Yesterday, IPRT hosted a well-attended panel discussion, chaired by @saoirse_b on the report of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) on its official visit to Ireland. Some key takeaways from the discussion 👇 #CPTIreland2025 #CPT2025

Yesterday, IPRT hosted a well-attended panel discussion, chaired by @saoirse_b on the report of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) on its official visit to Ireland. Some key takeaways from the discussion 👇 #CPTIreland2025 #CPT2025

Join us this afternoon as experts reflect on the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) report following its official visit to Ireland. Watch live: www.youtube.com/live/5BOo_YO... #CPTReport #CPTIreland2025

Ireland’s prisons are at 120% capacity — with almost 500 people sleeping on the floor. IPRT’s #Budget2026 submission calls for investment in mental health, alternatives to prison & reintegration, not more prison beds. Read full submission here: bit.ly/4n5qVJ3

IPRT’s Saoirse Brady spoke with Darren J. Prior on Near FM about Ireland’s prison system, why prison should not always be the answer to less serious crime, and how community service & restorative justice can build safer communities. 🎧 bit.ly/4gyrxVi

Saoirse Brady joined the Claire Byrne Show on @RTERadio1 to discuss the crisis of prison overcrowding. We cannot build our way out of this – prison expansion is not the answer. Listen back (Saoirse from 54:23–56:25): bit.ly/3In0cIR #overcrowding #humanrights

CYMI: Our Executive Director, Saoirse Brady, told RTÉ Six One News on 04/09 that prison overcrowding + people forced to sleep on mattresses are a breach of human dignity + fundamental rights. bit.ly/4n66E60 (From 33:55)

On @news.rte.ie News At One, our ED @saoirse-b.bsky.social responded to Irish Prison Services 2024 Report. Overcrowding and ongoing use of mattresses are an unacceptable breach of human dignity. She called for further Investment in probation & community sanctions. Listen back (36:39): bit.ly/4oYh3SK

🗣️ Prison overcrowding 'extremely concerning' Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) Executive Director, @saoirse-b.bsky.social, spoke to @rte.ie about the increasing prison overcrowding crisis. 📰 📻 Read the article and listen back to the radio clip 👉 www.iprt.ie/iprt-in-the-...

🌟 We’re delighted to welcome Niamh McCormack as the newest member of the IPRT team, joining us as Legal, Policy and Public Affairs Manager. She brings a wealth of experience in criminal justice, human rights and public affairs. 📄 Niamh's staff profile: www.iprt.ie/who-we-are/i...

#jobfairy Opportunity from the Irish Prison Service – Post-Doctoral Researcher in Criminology @maynoothuniversity.ie is seeking a Post-Doctoral Researcher for a 14-month position. Studying Prison In-Reach Services is a two-year research project led by Dr. Joe Garrihy. Info: www.irishprisons.ie.

🌟 We’re delighted to welcome Niamh McCormack as the newest member of the IPRT team, joining us as Legal, Policy and Public Affairs Manager. She brings a wealth of experience in criminal justice, human rights and public affairs. 📄 Niamh's staff profile: www.iprt.ie/who-we-are/i...

You are welcome to attend the #LeaveNoOneBehind Exhibition by @ATDIreland , which will explore this promise means to communities across Ireland When? Wednesday 23rd April, 2-4pm #SDGs Where? Unit 18, Trinity in the Community; off Pearse St www.atdireland.ie/wp/leave-no-...

On last week's RTÉ Prime Time, IPRT's @saoirse-b.bsky.social highlighted how early, support-based interventions—like the Bail Supervision Scheme—can reduce youth reoffending. Detention is costly; prevention works. 📺 Watch back - Saoirse speaks from 5:51 👉 www.iprt.ie/iprt-in-the-... #rtept

'We could be heading towards 6,000' inmates in Irish prisons after Easter court break www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41...

Executive Director of @irishpenalreform.bsky.social, @saoirse-b.bsky.social (graduate of @ucdschooloflaw.bsky.social ) reading a message from @president.ie on the occasion of #IPRT30

🟠 Celebrating 30 years of IPRT! 🟠 Join us in Dublin on Thursday, 10 April 2025 from 10.30am to reflect on 3 decades of penal reform with founders, former Exec Directors and Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan. 🟠 More details and registration👉 www.iprt.ie/latest-news/... #IPRT30

"A significant jump in the number of prisoner-on-prisoner attacks in the Irish jail system should be blamed on overcrowding" www.independent.ie/irish-news/c...

We're thrilled to welcome Tom Lord as our new Policy and Research Coordinator at IPRT! Tom brings a wealth of experience in human rights and policy, having worked on the prevention of torture (#OPCAT), Amnesty and the UN. Check out Tom's staff profile: www.iprt.ie/who-we-are/i...

"Unprecedented prison overcrowding leads to escalating tensions" www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtan...

📺 Listen back to IPRT Executive Director Saoirse Brady who explained that if we want to tackle crime, we need to support the individuals. #TonightVMTV Video credit: The Tonight Show, @virginmedianews.bsky.social

📢 Call for Research Proposals: IPRT is seeking research on the links between social deprivation and the criminal justice system to shift the focus from imprisonment to social investment for crime prevention. 🗓️ Deadline: 12pm, 27 March 2025 More info: www.iprt.ie/latest-news/...

The practice of people spending 24hrs in prison in an overstretched system highlights the urgent need to progress legislation on community-based sanctions for people convicted of less serious offences. After years in the making, it must now be prioritised. extra.ie/2025/03/21/n...

📺 Listen back to IPRT Executive Director Saoirse Brady who explained that if we want to tackle crime, we need to support the individuals. #TonightVMTV Video credit: The Tonight Show, @virginmedianews.bsky.social

This is an insightful and timely piece when severe overcrowding and unacceptable conditions in Irish prisons are negatively impacting so many. There is so much detail and nuance in this piece dispelling myths about suicide in prison. www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

🗣️ The rights of people in prison, the need to protect against torture in places of detention, and the use of community service orders in sentencing were some of the areas IPRT contributed to in the @liberties.eu Rule Of Law Report 2025. Read more 👉 www.iprt.ie/latest-news/...

Only two addiction counsellors but 100 on waiting list for services at Cork Prison www.echolive.ie/corknews/ari...

Speaking to The Echo @saoirse-b.bsky.social, IPRT, said that focusing on alternatives to custody would be more beneficial. “Evidence shows that increasing the size of and numbers in our prisons does not — and will not — reduce levels of crime.” www.echolive.ie/corknews/ari...

Deadline is today at 12 noon 👇

This is a really important piece of research for us. Please share with your networks.

Catch IPRT's @saoirse-b.bsky.social on @tonightvmtv.bsky.social at 10pm tonight as she joins the panel, led by Kieran Cuddihy, to discuss prison overcrowding and the use of bail. #TonightVMTV

‘Crowded prisons have multiple consequences, some intended, some unintended. All negative’ Joe Costello's recent letter in @irishtimes.com calls for a comprehensive review of our penal system to address these pressing issues. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...

Imagine sharing a tiny space with a stranger and a single toilet - no privacy, no dignity. Prof Ian O’Donnell (UCD) sheds light on the harsh reality of Irish prison cells the size of a parking bay. A must-read in @irishtimes.com. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

An important thread by our colleagues in ICCL on bail, the presumption of innocence and fair procedure rights 👇

This International Women's Day, IPRT's @saoirse-b.bsky.social joined many others in reflecting on women's stories after leaving the Criminal Justice System. Thanks to The Probation Service for arranging an uplifting and thought-provoking morning with amazing women for #InternationalWomensDay.

Dept of Justice published an Office of Inspector of Prisons Death in Custody Investigation Report for a death in Wheatfield Prison in 2022. Irish Prison Service is to review a policy by which medical appointments are cancelled if family become aware following the death. www.gov.ie/en/publicati...

The Dept of Justice published an Office of the Inspector of Prisons (OIP) Death in Custody Investigation Report for a death in hospital while in the custody of Mountjoy Prison in 2023. Changes to procedures regarding Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) instructions were recommended. www.gov.ie/en/publicati...

New record: Prison overcrowding is at another crisis point with all closed prisons having reached, or exceeded, capacity for the first time. www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/20...

Excellent letter "four to a cell having to eat meals off the floor beside unpartitioned toilets, having limited access to clean clothes or showers ... and being locked in cells for >22 hours a day without meaningful human contact or purposeful activity, demonstrate urgent nature of this crisis."

Today in the @irishtimes.com, IPRT Executive Director @saoirse-b.bsky.social writes about the Office of the Inspector of Prisons report that lays bare the sheer scale of human rights breaches and the lack of dignity faced by people currently in custody. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...

📢 Call for Research Proposals IPRT is seeking research on the links between social deprivation and the criminal justice system to shift the focus from imprisonment to social investment for crime prevention. 📅 Deadline: 12 noon, 18 March 2025 Full info: www.iprt.ie/latest-news/...

Great to see Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan commit to alternatives to prison early in his term. Prison isn’t always the answer - especially for non-violent offences. More community sanctions & support services are needed to break the cycle of reoffending. www.thejournal.ie/justice-mini...

The Traveller Justice Initiative (TJI) welcomed ETB Traveller Liaison Teachers from schools in prisons and educators from Oberstown to a training on Literacy & Traveller Inclusion. They discussed inclusive teaching resources and literacy supports. More about TJI's work: www.iprt.ie/traveller-ju....

On the latest episode of the Irish Examiner Mick Clifford Podcast, IPRT's @saoirse-b.bsky.social, discusses the need for more focus on alternatives to prison. 🎧 Listen: www.iprt.ie/iprt-in-the-news/the-mick-clifford-podcast-irish-examiner-is-it-time-to-find-an-alternative-to-prison-saoirse-brady/

The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) is now on Bluesky! We're Ireland’s leading independent voice campaigning for rights in the penal system and the progressive reform of Irish penal policy. Learn more about our evidence-led work: www.iprt.ie #Justice #PenalReform #HumanRights #Ireland #Prison