Lisa Loonam and Emma Flynn of Gallen Community School, in Co Offaly, write about life behind a prison wall

First, Lisa writes about a visit to the old Portlaoise prison

On a grey Monday morning we arrived at the jail. We were greeted by a friendly prison officer, our guide for the visit. First, our mobile phones were taken and we were searched by two prison officers. Having been deemed clean, we were allowed to proceed with the tour.

We were brought into the security control room, where about 10 televisions showed every angle of prison activity. On one screen we saw a lone prisoner walking up and down a courtyard outside. We were told that he has been walking like this for an hour a day for the past 20 years. We were brought up to an old watchtower that overlooked the exercise yard where the prisoners kick football or simply get fresh air.

A smell you would associate with a fancy restaurant came from the kitchen. We discovered that the prisoners enjoy a 28-day menu, with three courses at dinnertime. All the men we thought were chefs were actually prisoners. We were very concerned when we saw the sharp knives they had access to in the kitchen, especially when we saw a really big bald-headed lad with tattoos along his arms - quite scary.

We realised on our visit just how handy the prisoners have life but that many of them are just normal people who made stupid mistakes. We can't really see how their easy living will teach them a lesson, though.

A week later, Emma recorded these impressions of the new prison

The guard escorting us during our visit was head warder of the sex offenders' wing. He showed us where they strip-searched people and where the prisoners have to shower and change their clothes. He then let us examine a baton and handcuffs - for a joke, he handcuffed one of our group, Siobhan Delaney, but he let her go after a while.

We went down through wing B1. The prisoners were in their cells, so we had to keep quiet. As we walked out one of them started singing You Raise Me Up to us. We got a bit freaked out, but would you blame us?

Violence can be a problem. The guard told us about an attack where a prisoner threw a kettle of boiling water in a guard's face and then threw the kettle at him. The guard had six stitches and has to get skin grafts. Our escort said he got stabbed with a syringe one time, but luckily the blood didn't get into his body.

We went down some stairs and saw where the prisoners play pool or table tennis or watch a widescreen plasma TV. They have a big, fully equipped gym and metalwork and woodwork rooms where they can make whatever they want. They go to school for about six hours a day and they are locked up for 17 hours.