The Prison Officers' Association (POA) has called on the Minister for Justice to reopen the Curragh prison in Co Kildare and Spike Island prison in Cork harbour to deal with the overcrowding crisis in Irish prisons.
A number of violent incidents at Dublin's Mountjoy Prison last week - including a murder and several stabbings - occurred because mentally unstable prisoners as well as those in need of protection were not segregated due to overcrowding, according to Stephen Delaney, POA assistant general secretary.
He said sexual offender prisoners were not all being segregated or taking part in rehabilitation programmes at Mountjoy due to a lack of resources. While the majority of sexual offenders are housed at Dublin's Arbour Hill prison, this facility is full.
The Curragh and Spike Island prisons were closed in 2004.
Mr Delaney said more staff were needed to operate various services at Mountjoy. "The library and workshops are not in operation the majority of the time because of a lack of manpower of the ground floor. This means the prisoners are just walking the yard. This boredom leads to tension and agitation."
The POA is meeting the Irish Prison Service on Wednesday to raise the issues of reopening the two prisons and the manpower shortage at Mountjoy.