European body reviews prisons

Garda stations and prisons around Ireland were visited during a routine 10-day visit by the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe…

Garda stations and prisons around Ireland were visited during a routine 10-day visit by the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT).

The 10-member delegation visited three Dublin stations, Pearse Street, Fitzgibbon Street and Finglas, as well as Henry Street Divisional Headquarters in Limerick and the immigration service and police station at Shannon Airport.

The group also went to Mountjoy, Limerick and Portlaoise Prisons and the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum. The visit concluded last week. The last CPT review was in 1993, but the results of such trips are never made public.

"The information gathered by the CPT in relation to its visit to Ireland, and its consultations with the Irish authorities, are confidential," said a Council of Europe spokeswoman in Strasbourg.