Costliest prison to open this year in Cork
The H-block building will replace the overcrowded prison on Rathmore Road, and is being developed on a six-acre greenfield site next to the current facility. The 310-inmate prison will be close to the Brandon Crescent and Comeragh Park estates.
PJ Hegarty and Sons Contractors are completing the 7.2m-high perimeter wall, with 250 workers also finishing internal work.
Michael Donnellan, director general of the Irish Prison Service, said the new rehabilitative and educational facilities, as well as the open spaces, courtyards and new family visiting areas, represented a âcomplete transformationâ.
The new facility will end the practice of âslopping outâ, with toilets built into each room.
The prison will have 275 prisoners, with room for 35 additional inmates, but capacity will only be reached in emergency circumstances.
Social justice campaigner Fr Peter McVerry has criticised the sharing of cells in the new prison in Cork.
Fr McVerry says double occupancy of cells results in increased intimidation and violence, and introduces non-drug users to drug use.
Cork Prison is a closed, medium-security prison for adult males.
It is the committal prison for counties Cork, Kerry and Waterford.
This project represents the largest single investment in infrastructure by the Irish Prison Service.
The Irish Prison Service had proposed to construct a new prison to serve the Munster area, on a 160-acre site owned by the Department of Defence in Kilworth, Co Cork.
However, the reduced capital envelope did not allow the Irish Prison Service to proceed with the development of Kilworth.
