Sir, – On International Women’s Day I had the privilege of visiting and meeting staff and prisoners at an Irish prison.
Many things – both good and bad – struck me during the hours I spent there. I urge your readers to consider an often neglected question in our society: Is prison the right place for most of our prisoners? I am not an expert in custodial matters, but fear that prison is not the answer for most prisoners or indeed society. We need to intervene at much earlier stages through education and support for vulnerable persons and also to place the issue of restorative justice back on the table. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I applaud The Irish Timesfor providing coverage of International Women's Day (p11, March 8th) albeit with a picture in which the women's attention appeared to be centred on a male – the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.
A more powerful piece of advocacy for women might have been made that day if all the letters to the editor had been from women, if the diary had been an Irishwoman’s Diary and if the three leading opinion and analysis pieces on the opposite page had been written by women. – Yours, etc,