See inside the hidden holding cells under the CCJ and our largest remand prison

Irish Daily Mirror

4 days ago

These are the hidden hallways of a bustling underground 'mini-prison' that sits right beneath Ireland's main court building.
The Irish Mirror gained unprecedented access to the massive holding cell area of Dublin's Criminal Courts of Justice (CCJ) in Parkgate Street - and to Ireland's largest remand prison - Cloverhill, in an exclusive video podcast to be released today.
In the Shattered Lives podcast special, available on the Irish Mirror's YouTube channel today (Friday), three Governors of the Irish Prison Service also opened up about the reality of the committal process - bringing prisoners to and from the CCJ - and adjusting them to the realities of jail life. They also revealed to us the grim reality that weapons have been dropped into prisons via drone - and how 'tensions to this day' remain behind bars due to the Kinahan / Hutch feud.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror inside a hallway consisting of 21 holding cells situated right beneath the courts in Dublin, Paddy Moran Assistant Governor of Mountjoy Prison told us:
'As you can see as we're walking there's a number of different holding cells. This would mimic what would actually happen on a larger scale in an actual prison, where we have to keep the different prisoners from different factions separated. It might be to do with feuds or it could be to do with all sorts of things like debts, people who might have given information or might be perceived to have given information to the guard.
"We have to protect them while they're in custody and keep them separate from each other.' Paddy Moran and Paul Healy in one of the holding cells at the CCJ Holding cells at the CCJ
Paddy is a senior official in a prison that was at one stage entirely segregated due to the bitter rivalries of the Kinahan Hutch feud - which killed 18 men. He told us of the unique challenges of that time - and how many of those tensions haven't gone away behind bars.
'That caused significant headaches within the prison service because there were large numbers of different gangs around the country that were, you know, pledging their allegiances to different sides in that particular high-profile feud. Yes, the feud has simmered down publicly thank God, but there are still lingering issues within the prison system of different prisoners who have been involved in different situations that can't mix with each other,' he revealed.
'There's still tensions to this day. But there are other feuds going on around the country. Not as well publicised but oftentimes pretty dangerous deadly feuds as well.'
Inside Cloverhill Prison, which is home to over 400 prisoners awaiting trial or sentence, the Irish Mirror was granted access to many areas, including the A2 landing, where we saw inside a cell - where a TV, bunk beds and other facilities were visible.
We were shown the reception area, where a prisoner is brought in and comprehensively searched - as well as one of the yards - which is protected by netting that nonetheless can sometimes be breached by drones. We also saw the 'Circle' - a massive area in the very centre of the prison where most other areas of the jail are accessible. Kevin O'Connell, Governor of Cloverhill Prison speaking to Paul Healy in The Circle area of the prison Bridget Allen and Kevin O'Connell, Governor of Cloverhill Prison, speaking to Paul Healy on one of the landings
And in one shocking revelation to this paper, Cloverhill Prison Governor Kevin O'Connell revealed that prisoners have successfully managed to smuggle weapons into prison - after they were dropped into the yard via drone.
'Yes, I have seen it here myself. I have seen shivs, stanley blades and weapons and tools as well,' he told us. Kevin O'Connell, Governor of Cloverhill Prison, speaking to Paul Healy Cloverhill prison
'Prisoners will come up with ingenious ways of trying to conceal contraband and phones when they get into the prison. They'll hide it behind a light, a screen or whatever. In the round, the number of weapons used prisoner on prisoner has reduced greatly and that's been a positive piece and that's down to the de-escalation techniques and the work our staff do with our prisoners.'
The Governor revealed that he has seen Stanley blades, shivs, mobile phones and all manner of contraband snuck into the prison - often in very inventive ways. Speaking to us by the shower area where prisoners undress and are searched before being committed, he spoke to us of one occasion where a prisoner tried to sneak over 700 tablets inside by hanging them from his nether region. Cloverhill Prison landing
'One of our staff noticed a prisoner here at ten o'clock at night. He wasn't in a full state of undress, he had his bottom half covered. One of our staff noticed he had something concealed on his lower half… to his groin area. Upon closer inspection they uncovered a quantity of several hundred tablets on his person,' he revealed.
In the podcast, we also spoke to experienced Assistant Governor Bridget Allen of the Irish Prison Service Training College, which has sites in Portlaoise and Dublin. She speaks in depth on the podcast about training recruit prison officers and on highlighting the prisoner journey from the courthouse all the way to the prison.
Phil O'Meara, Assistant Governor with the Prison Service Escort Group (PSEC), also speaks on the podcast - showing us the 'dock' in Court 6 of the CCJ, and informing us how prison staff escort a prisoner to that area and remain offside but on constant standby for any event during the course of a trial. Cloverhill Prison cell Cloverhill Prison exercise yard with mesh covering
'The staff will escort the prisoner through this area here into the court as soon as his case is called. Staff will put themselves into a position where they are offside and won't prejudice the trial duration of the sitting,' he told us.
'The CCJ here is a very busy place as you can imagine here, Monday to Friday, and in the unfortunate event that something does happen, we have staff that we can call on straight away to assist if we have any disturbances."
Assistant Governor Bridget Allen added: 'All our staff would carry radios as well. We have up to 60-70 staff here (in the CCJ) on a daily basis. Every escort that comes into the court has a radio on them so it's very easy for us to call for help if needed. I suppose it's part of our training. We're trained how to deal with those situations,' she said.
Showing us inside a holding cell located directly below one of the courts, Assistant Governor Paddy Moran told of that stage of the process - where a newly-committed prisoner is beginning to adjust to their new reality.
'The first person that they're going to meet is a prison officer. We will be dealing with people that could be in crisis. They could be volatile, could be suicidal, could be stressed. Yes, they have committed a crime but we have to provide support to help them get their head around what has actually happened from there on in. I would treat any prisoner I meet the way I would want to be treated if I was in their shoes,' he said.
The Irish Prison Service is currently running a recruit prison officer competition and you can find out more by visiting Irishprisons.ie.
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