The Prisoners’ Rights Organisation and Penal Reform in the Republic of Ireland

Abstract

The 1970s and 1980s were troubled times in Irish prisons. Conditions were poor, prison rules were outdated, penal reform was not a political or social priority and a sharp increase in the number of prisoners seeking political status created heightened tensions which often led to disturbances. Prisoners protested with a range of demands: some wanted segregation, their own wings and political status; others sought improvements in conditions and penal reform. Allied to these protest movements inside, a number of prisoner support groups grew up outside. This chapter examines one of these, the Prisoners’ Rights Organisation (PRO), which emerged in the early 1970s. The PRO was unique as it spoke for ‘ordinary’ or ‘social’ prisoners. This chapter begins by surveying the penal environment in which the PRO emerged in the early 1970s. Protests erupted in Irish prisons over a variety of issues, which are then examined. While there was a proliferation of prisoners’ rights movements internationally (Behan 2018, 501–526), the momentum for reform of the penal system was primarily local. The PRO spoke for ordinary prisoners and its programme and activities, and the responses from various governments are examined in the next section. The final section scrutinises progress in the penal system in the Republic of Ireland, with particular reference to the contribution of the PRO to its reform.