The former governor of Ireland’s only female prison, Kathleen McMahon has claimed the Irish Prison Service forced her resignation.
The dispute between the head of the Irish Prison Service and the former governor of Ireland's only female prison intensified yesterday after Kathleen McMahon claimed the service forced her resignation.
Ms McMahon said yesterday she “could have worked for another seven years” if conditions had been different. She said she could have stayed on if the regime had been different, if there had been more support in the prison service and more respect for her position.
“All of these issues forced my resignation. We’re not talking about constructive dismissal, but they forced my resignation,” she said.
However, Brian Purcell, the Irish Prison Service director general, yesterday said he did not accept the assertion by Ms McMahon that she was forced out of her role as governor of the Dóchas Centre.
As reported in Monday's Irish Times, Ms McMahon said she resigned as governor of the Dóchas Centre in Dublin's Mountjoy Prison because of the "serious undermining" of her position and an "overall lack of respect by senior personnel in the Irish Prison Service".
In her resignation letter to the prison service authorities, Ms McMahon said her role had been made “completely impossible” in recent months. She said there had been a lack of communication and consultation, and that she had been excluded from a recent decision to put bunk beds into rooms designed for one prisoner.
Speaking on Today with Pat Kenny today she said: "I sent numerous e-mails to the prison service about my concerns about the overcrowding and other issues and I didn't even get a response".
She rejected an assertion by Mr Purcell that consultation in decision-making took place. Ms McMahon said her interpretation of consultation and Mr Purcell's "is obviously very different”. She said: "My idea of consultation and communication is that you sit down with people and tease out the problems". She claimed a "dictatorship" had come about at Dóchas, with the Irish Prison Service making all the decisions instead of the governor.
She also claimed the Prison Service had countermanded her philosophy on certain issues, such as the temporary release of low risk prisoners for confirmations and communions. “In all my time in the prison service very, very, seldom was a mother refused to go to their child’s communion or confirmation,” she said, adding that the women always came back when released.
Responding, Mr Purcell said Ms McMahon was consulted about the proposal to put 18 bunk beds in the Dóchas Centre. “By consultation Kathleen means agreement. Kathleen was consulted about this proposal but she did not agree with the position. I also agreed with her that this is not the ideal situation but this is what we had to do . . . she was consulted and her views taken into consideration."
He said the bunk beds were installed as an alternative to sleeping prisoners on mattresses on the floor or releasing them.
Mr Purcell rejected Ms McMahon's claim that emails she sent to the Irish Prison Service were not responded to and said a senior official from the service would have gone to meet her every time she said she had a problem with overcrowding. He also said he disagreed with Ms McMahon’s assertion that low risk offenders are being refused temporary release for communions and confirmations.
Socialist Party MEP Joe Higgins said the resignation of Ms McMahon highlighted the “Victorian conditions” that operate in the prison systems. “A radical rethink of the criminal justice system, together with real investment in improving all public services is necessary. Imprisonment, instead of being the first option, should be a last resort," he said.
Socialist Party MEP Joe Higgins said the resignation of Ms McMahon highlighted the “Victorian conditions” that operate in the prison systems.
Overcrowding is such that an area designed for 85 women regularly houses over 120 prisoners, he said, adding: “The result is both inhumane and dangerous for both prisoners and staff”.
“Unfortunately, the Government’s response to the economic crisis is worsening the problem. By slashing public services and increasing social exclusion, they are exacerbating one of the root causes of some crimes. Their cutbacks in the prison system will only compound this problem," he said.
“A radical rethink of the criminal justice system, together with real investment in improving all public services is necessary. Imprisonment, instead of being the first option, should be a last resort," he said.
