The new 400-unit prison extension under construction in Portlaoise will be one of the most modern detention units in the western world, with the latest technological equipment, including closed-circuit television monitoring of cells.
Most motorists, who used to pass the high-security prison as they sped through the town, now bypass Portlaoise when travelling on the main Dublin - Cork/ Limerick motorway and so are largely unaware of how rapidly work is progressing on the prison extension, the largest single civil engineering job to be undertaken in the midlands.
Any notion the public may have had that the prospect of an end to violence in the North would lead to a scaling-down of facilities in Portlaoise prison will be firmly dispelled when the extension is completed.
Government promises on additional cells are being delivered as work continues at a frantic pace to complete the prison on time. The provision of an additional 1,000 prison spaces was promised by the Government when it came into office and the Portlaoise development is part of that promise.
The prison extension is unique in a number of ways. It is the first project of its kind on this scale to have been built on a design, build and finance basis. This system has been used before in the construction of offices around the State as part of the Government's decentralisation programme.
This means the State is not required to bear the cost of building during the construction phase. The cost of meeting the £40 million bill runs over 20 years. The traditional approach has been for the State to pay the capital cost of construction at the time such buildings were being erected.
Facilities at the new prison extension will include biometric and fibre-optic technology, electronically controlled gates and a stand-alone high-security segregation unit with accommodation for up to 40 disruptive prisoners.
This facility, a prison within a prison, will be the only such unit in the State's prison system. Work is almost complete on the 7 m high reinforced concrete wall which will surround the complex. While no one has officially said so yet, it will be Ireland's most secure prison from which escape will be virtually impossible.
The prison will also be virtually self-sufficient, containing five factory units operating as full industrial units. It will incorporate a bakery, laundry and timber and metal workshops which will supply services to other prisons in the system throughout the State.
Already the building of the prison, which is being carried out by Henry O'Rourke, the same contractor who built Castlerea prison in Co Roscommon, has created up to 500 jobs in the construction stage.
Local solicitor Eugene O'Connor, who is secretary of the local Chamber of Commerce, said this week the employment potential from the new extended prison was high.
"The expectation is that there will be 400 jobs created, a prison officer for every prisoner. That is because the prison service operates three shifts. It will be very important for the town because we have no major industries here. All our units are small. This will be a major boost for the town.
"Most people don't realise that the original prison is quite small and because of recent events the number of employees there has been quite low," he said. He expected there would be a spin-off for local business people servicing the new unit even though contracts for the prison are carried out by public tender.
Mr O'Connor said that already the town was gearing up for the new development with the recent announcement that 800 new houses were to be built in the town.
"This will greatly increase the size of the town which is expanding to meet the demand that has already been created by the motorway extension which means it is feasible to commute to Dublin from here."
Other plans for the town include the provision of a new technical park on the edge of the town, where the first of a series of new advance factories has been sanctioned.