Is prison the right place for one of Ireland’s most dangerous inmates?

Is prison the right place for one of Ireland’s most dangerous inmates?

Reader's Blog: Eviction of family from farm in Strokestown must be a wake-up call | IrishExaminer.com

Reader's Blog: Eviction of family from farm in Strokestown must be a wake-up call | IrishExaminer.com

State operates under a veil of secrecy

State operates under a veil of secrecy

Residents of Meath village unite to stop drug dealers | IrishExaminer.com

Residents of Meath village unite to stop drug dealers | IrishExaminer.com

Residents of Meath village unite to stop drug dealers | IrishExaminer.com

Residents of Meath village unite to stop drug dealers | IrishExaminer.com

Residents of Meath village unite to stop drug dealers | IrishExaminer.com

Residents of Meath village unite to stop drug dealers | IrishExaminer.com

Brother of Martin 'The General' Cahill urges young criminals to ignore the road designed for them

Brother of Martin 'The General' Cahill urges young criminals to ignore the road designed for them: A former criminal and the brother of notorious Dublin gangland boss Martin 'The General' Cahill has urged young criminals to reflect on the fact that by entering criminality they are often merely going down a road designed for them.

Brother of Martin 'The General' Cahill urges young criminals to ignore the road designed for them

Brother of Martin 'The General' Cahill urges young criminals to ignore the road designed for them: A former criminal and the brother of notorious Dublin gangland boss Martin 'The General' Cahill has urged young criminals to reflect on the fact that by entering criminality they are often merely going down a road designed for them.

Judgment in slopping out case could have 'huge consequences', State argues

Judgment in slopping out case could have 'huge consequences', State argues: Any finding by the Supreme Court that slopping out amounts to inhuman and degrading treatment would have “huge” consequences for the State and the Mountjoy prison regime, the State has said.

Rapist wins right to pension in jail

Rapist wins right to pension in jail: Landmark ruling could lead to other claims for welfare payments

State operates under a veil of secrecy

State operates under a veil of secrecy: Minister for Finance Michael Noonan kept batting away requests for the truth on the IBRC/Siteserv deal for more than six months through the course of 19 parliamentary questions.

Defendant attacked house over drugs debt

Defendant attacked house over drugs debt: A householder reacted quickly when a man tried to set fire to the front door because of a drugs debt.

Stardust fire families find fresh evidence to petition for new case

Stardust fire families find fresh evidence to petition for new case: 48 young people died in the popular nightclub in Artane, Dublin, on Valentine’s Day in 1981.

Probe into shredding of Callinan’s ‘personal papers’

Probe into shredding of Callinan’s ‘personal papers’: Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan has ordered an examination into the shredding of “personal papers”

CervicalCheck scandal victim attacks ex-HSE boss over media comments

CervicalCheck scandal victim attacks ex-HSE boss over media comments: The Galway woman is one of the more than 220 women affected by failures in the CervicalCheck screening system.

Garda HR chief told of bid to ‘go after’ McCabe, says file given to tribunal

Garda HR chief told of bid to ‘go after’ McCabe, says file given to tribunal: A member of Garda management told the force’s head of human resources, John Barrett, that there would be an attempt to target Sgt Maurice McCabe at the O’Higgins Commission, according to documents submitted to the Charleton Tribunal.

Publication of the Sixth Report of the Implementation Oversight Group | Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT)

Publication of the Sixth Report of the Implementation Oversight Group | Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT)

State must be held to account on disabilities, Equality Commission urges

State must be held to account on disabilities, Equality Commission urges: The State must be held to account on its approach to the rights of people with disabilities, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has urged.ABOUT TIME.

Defendant attacked house over drugs debt

Defendant attacked house over drugs debt: A householder reacted quickly when a man tried to set fire to the front door because of a drugs debt.

Inmate deaths lead to call for culture change

Inmate deaths lead to call for culture change: The concerns highlighted by two prison inspectors on proper records being kept by officers appears to be falling on deaf ears within the service, writes Joe Leogue

50 years ago today The Northern Irish Troubles began

50 years ago today The Northern Irish Troubles began: On October 5, 1968, everything changed. I was fifteen years old living 25 miles from the Irish border and Northern Ireland might as well have been in Africa for all most people knew or cared about it.

A CORRUPT NATION,Probably the most revealing yet obvious lesson to be learned from my failure to get a nomination for #Aras18 is the fact that the system and the people who run it are too corrupt to allow somebody into power who would try to change it. It has been a very worthwhile journey because we have all got a fresh insight into the rot at the heart of our State and we have seen once again how Ireland only works for the vested interests who are connected to power. There is no fair play in this country. All of the political parties have disgraced themselves by running away from their democratic responsibilities, particularly the Soc Dems, PBP, Solidarity and the Greens. You would find more independent thinking on a sheep farm than you would in Leinster House. I will be speaking about this and more at 7pm tonight when I do an interview with John Ryan on Broadsheet.ie. However, I want to pay tribute now to those Independent Oireachtas members who did nominate me and who wanted to give the Irish people the right to choose their own president. Sincere thanks to Joan Collins, Clare Daly, Mick Wallace, Catherine Connolly, Michael Fitzmaurice, Sean Canney, Tommy Broughan, Seamus Healy, Maureen O’Sullivan, Mattie McGrath and Ronan Mullen. Your votes are safe with them. As for the rest, I think we need acknowledge that the party system has failed Ireland time and time again. We need a new grassroots movement based on four pillars: anti-corruption, transparency, accountability and protection of public money. I’d love to see an Ireland where Clare Daly was in charge of Justice and the Gardai, and Catherine Connolly ran Finance. This is possible but we need to start finding likeminded people in our own communities who CANNOT BE BOUGHT and who will put themselves forward in the upcoming council and Oireachtas elections. We need to fill our political houses with them to clean out the rot for good. If we want this new Ireland, we must break the habit of re-electing FF/FG/Lab for good as well as the smaller new parties who have shown fascist tendencies in recent weeks and pretend to be something they are not. The journey has started. I intend to keep trying. I hope you will too so that we can create a clean Ireland for the next generation and get rid of dirty politics for once and for all. #ENDCORRUPTIONNOWEncourage Change.

A CORRUPT NATION,Probably the most revealing yet obvious lesson to be learned from my failure to get a nomination for #Aras18 is the fact that the system and the people who run it are too corrupt to allow somebody into power who would try to change it. It has been a very worthwhile journey because we have all got a fresh insight into the rot at the heart of our State and we have seen once again how Ireland only works for the vested interests who are connected to power. There is no fair play in this country. All of the political parties have disgraced themselves by running away from their democratic responsibilities, particularly the Soc Dems, PBP, Solidarity and the Greens. You would find more independent thinking on a sheep farm than you would in Leinster House. I will be speaking about this and more at 7pm tonight when I do an interview with John Ryan on Broadsheet.ie. However, I want to pay tribute now to those Independent Oireachtas members who did nominate me and who wanted to give the Irish people the right to choose their own president. Sincere thanks to Joan Collins, Clare Daly, Mick Wallace, Catherine Connolly, Michael Fitzmaurice, Sean Canney, Tommy Broughan, Seamus Healy, Maureen O’Sullivan, Mattie McGrath and Ronan Mullen. Your votes are safe with them. As for the rest, I think we need acknowledge that the party system has failed Ireland time and time again. We need a new grassroots movement based on four pillars: anti-corruption, transparency, accountability and protection of public money. I’d love to see an Ireland where Clare Daly was in charge of Justice and the Gardai, and Catherine Connolly ran Finance. This is possible but we need to start finding likeminded people in our own communities who CANNOT BE BOUGHT and who will put themselves forward in the upcoming council and Oireachtas elections. We need to fill our political houses with them to clean out the rot for good. If we want this new Ireland, we must break the habit of re-electing FF/FG/Lab for good as well as the smaller new parties who have shown fascist tendencies in recent weeks and pretend to be something they are not. The journey has started. I intend to keep trying. I hope you will too so that we can create a clean Ireland for the next generation and get rid of dirty politics for once and for all. #ENDCORRUPTIONNOW

Class Inequality

Probably the most revealing yet obvious lesson to be learned from my failure to get a nomination for #Aras18 is the fact that the system and the people who run it are too corrupt to allow somebody into power who would try to change it. It has been a very worthwhile journey because we have all got a fresh insight into the rot at the heart of our State and we have seen once again how Ireland only works for the vested interests who are connected to power. There is no fair play in this country. All of the political parties have disgraced themselves by running away from their democratic responsibilities, particularly the Soc Dems, PBP, Solidarity and the Greens. You would find more independent thinking on a sheep farm than you would in Leinster House. I will be speaking about this and more at 7pm tonight when I do an interview with John Ryan on Broadsheet.ie. However, I want to pay tribute now to those Independent Oireachtas members who did nominate me and who wanted to give the Irish people the right to choose their own president. Sincere thanks to Joan Collins, Clare Daly, Mick Wallace, Catherine Connolly, Michael Fitzmaurice, Sean Canney, Tommy Broughan, Seamus Healy, Maureen O’Sullivan, Mattie McGrath and Ronan Mullen. Your votes are safe with them. As for the rest, I think we need acknowledge that the party system has failed Ireland time and time again. We need a new grassroots movement based on four pillars: anti-corruption, transparency, accountability and protection of public money. I’d love to see an Ireland where Clare Daly was in charge of Justice and the Gardai, and Catherine Connolly ran Finance. This is possible but we need to start finding likeminded people in our own communities who CANNOT BE BOUGHT and who will put themselves forward in the upcoming council and Oireachtas elections. We need to fill our political houses with them to clean out the rot for good. If we want this new Ireland, we must break the habit of re-electing FF/FG/Lab for good as well as the smaller new parties who have shown fascist tendencies in recent weeks and pretend to be something they are not. The journey has started. I intend to keep trying. I hope you will too so that we can create a clean Ireland for the next generation and get rid of dirty politics for once and for all. #ENDCORRUPTIONNOW

"Ordinary Joe Soap"- The Roscommon farmer who wants to be Ireland's President

"Ordinary Joe Soap"- The Roscommon farmer who wants to be Ireland's President: Farmer John Groarke from Co Roscommon has said he would like to be President of Ireland and challenge incumbent Michael D Higgins for the spot.

"Ordinary Joe Soap"- The Roscommon farmer who wants to be Ireland's President

"Ordinary Joe Soap"- The Roscommon farmer who wants to be Ireland's President: Farmer John Groarke from Co Roscommon has said he would like to be President of Ireland and challenge incumbent Michael D Higgins for the spot.

The devastating impact of social class is not an abstract concept to hundreds of thousands on this island' Working class communities are punished for a system they had little real control over, writes Lynn Ruane. Sunday 12 August 2018 19:31 51,977 200 THE IRISH PENAL Reform Trust released figures to us on the Oireachtas Education Committee earlier this year stating that the majority of the current cohort of Irish prisoners had never sat a State Exam and over half had left school before the age of fifteen. It was also reported that prisoners in Ireland were twenty-five times more likely to come from deprived communities. The relationship between deprivation, disadvantage and criminality was clear in the data we received and from my point of view, there for everybody and anybody to see. Yet in Irish society we do not adequately acknowledge and recognise the role that social class plays when looking to the number of young men in the prison system or as a broader socio-economic phenomenon which impacts on the health, prospects and well-being of the less well-off in communities across the country. What seems so clear and so obvious from our national data on criminality, educational attainment and deprivation and the relationship between them is often firstly denied to have any impact at all and secondly, to not even exist in the first place. ADVERTISEMENT A politician colleague said to me recently, “Do you have to bring class in everything?” I sharply responded, “As long as it exists I do”. This was not the first adverse reaction to raising the issue I had received but I refuse to be made feel like I shouldn’t. The devastating impact of social class in Ireland is not an abstract concept to me and hundreds of thousands of others all over this island. People who have had their lives determined by a class system that they wore born into; by luck and luck alone. ADVERTISEMENT ‘Institutionalised inequality of the class system’ I often sit and read all the letters I have received from friends in prison in a shoe box. The letters are all in small brown envelopes and many of them start with “Alright Lynn, just me here on the end of the pen”. In a margin down the side there are lists of young boys’ names neatly written in columns and beside each name is the length of the sentence they are serving. This long list of boys, some still alive but many of them now dead all have a common thread in their letters, the same aspirations for their release. “When I get out I am going to go back to school, when I get out I am going to Youthreach, when I get out I am not going to get in trouble again.” But what happens to their ambition? It is as if with the first steps out of St Patrick’s Institution, Oberstown or Wheatfield; any ability they have to exert any agency, control or direction over their lives evaporates. ADVERTISEMENT It didn’t matter how much they wanted to improve their situation, they had little to no agency against the institutionalised inequality of the class system. The class system is too powerful for many young boys to exert any power over their circumstances. Decision making is coerced by the inequality of our conditions, often leading to young men from working class communities being perpetually punished for a system they had little real control over. Whether it be on the Micro, the Mezzo or the Marco, young men who experience poverty, deprivation and prison face challenges at every turn, making it feel impossible to manoeuvre through this interconnected web of obstacles. This may include struggles within the family home, schools refusing to lift expulsions, little access to social and financial capital, low educational attainment and all-round feeling of helplessness. Considering a majority of the men in the IRPT’s statistics were unemployed at the time of arrest and add in the low educational attainment of prisoners you would wonder what the logic is in pumping so much money into the prison system rather than focusing on prevention by addressing inequality of conditions. It is sad to say that it appears to be just another tool in the reinforcement of class. ADVERTISEMENT As I stated earlier, the connection between deprivation, disadvantage and criminality is clear, yet we fail to address the conditions that has contributed to this while expecting offenders to ‘learn their lesson’ and reintegrate into society as law abiding citizens. Maybe sometimes it is less about learning lessons and more about creating a fairer society that reduces deprivation and disadvantage, which will in turn reduce criminality and reoffending. Lynn Ruane is an Independent Senator in Seanad Éireann, representing Trinity College Dublin. She is also a member of the civil engagement group in the Seanad and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education & Skills.

The devastating impact of social class is not an abstract concept to hundreds of thousands on this island' Working class communities are punished for a system they had little real control over, writes Lynn Ruane. Sunday 12 August 2018 19:31 51,977 200 THE IRISH PENAL Reform Trust released figures to us on the Oireachtas Education Committee earlier this year stating that the majority of the current cohort of Irish prisoners had never sat a State Exam and over half had left school before the age of fifteen. It was also reported that prisoners in Ireland were twenty-five times more likely to come from deprived communities. The relationship between deprivation, disadvantage and criminality was clear in the data we received and from my point of view, there for everybody and anybody to see. Yet in Irish society we do not adequately acknowledge and recognise the role that social class plays when looking to the number of young men in the prison system or as a broader socio-economic phenomenon which impacts on the health, prospects and well-being of the less well-off in communities across the country. What seems so clear and so obvious from our national data on criminality, educational attainment and deprivation and the relationship between them is often firstly denied to have any impact at all and secondly, to not even exist in the first place. ADVERTISEMENT A politician colleague said to me recently, “Do you have to bring class in everything?” I sharply responded, “As long as it exists I do”. This was not the first adverse reaction to raising the issue I had received but I refuse to be made feel like I shouldn’t. The devastating impact of social class in Ireland is not an abstract concept to me and hundreds of thousands of others all over this island. People who have had their lives determined by a class system that they wore born into; by luck and luck alone. ADVERTISEMENT ‘Institutionalised inequality of the class system’ I often sit and read all the letters I have received from friends in prison in a shoe box. The letters are all in small brown envelopes and many of them start with “Alright Lynn, just me here on the end of the pen”. In a margin down the side there are lists of young boys’ names neatly written in columns and beside each name is the length of the sentence they are serving. This long list of boys, some still alive but many of them now dead all have a common thread in their letters, the same aspirations for their release. “When I get out I am going to go back to school, when I get out I am going to Youthreach, when I get out I am not going to get in trouble again.” But what happens to their ambition? It is as if with the first steps out of St Patrick’s Institution, Oberstown or Wheatfield; any ability they have to exert any agency, control or direction over their lives evaporates. ADVERTISEMENT It didn’t matter how much they wanted to improve their situation, they had little to no agency against the institutionalised inequality of the class system. The class system is too powerful for many young boys to exert any power over their circumstances. Decision making is coerced by the inequality of our conditions, often leading to young men from working class communities being perpetually punished for a system they had little real control over. Whether it be on the Micro, the Mezzo or the Marco, young men who experience poverty, deprivation and prison face challenges at every turn, making it feel impossible to manoeuvre through this interconnected web of obstacles. This may include struggles within the family home, schools refusing to lift expulsions, little access to social and financial capital, low educational attainment and all-round feeling of helplessness. Considering a majority of the men in the IRPT’s statistics were unemployed at the time of arrest and add in the low educational attainment of prisoners you would wonder what the logic is in pumping so much money into the prison system rather than focusing on prevention by addressing inequality of conditions. It is sad to say that it appears to be just another tool in the reinforcement of class. ADVERTISEMENT As I stated earlier, the connection between deprivation, disadvantage and criminality is clear, yet we fail to address the conditions that has contributed to this while expecting offenders to ‘learn their lesson’ and reintegrate into society as law abiding citizens. Maybe sometimes it is less about learning lessons and more about creating a fairer society that reduces deprivation and disadvantage, which will in turn reduce criminality and reoffending. Lynn Ruane is an Independent Senator in Seanad Éireann, representing Trinity College Dublin. She is also a member of the civil engagement group in the Seanad and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education & Skills.

The devastating impact of social class is not an abstract concept to hundreds of thousands on this island' Working class communities are punished for a system they had little real control over, writes Lynn Ruane. Sunday 12 August 2018 19:31 51,977 200 THE IRISH PENAL Reform Trust released figures to us on the Oireachtas Education Committee earlier this year stating that the majority of the current cohort of Irish prisoners had never sat a State Exam and over half had left school before the age of fifteen. It was also reported that prisoners in Ireland were twenty-five times more likely to come from deprived communities. The relationship between deprivation, disadvantage and criminality was clear in the data we received and from my point of view, there for everybody and anybody to see. Yet in Irish society we do not adequately acknowledge and recognise the role that social class plays when looking to the number of young men in the prison system or as a broader socio-economic phenomenon which impacts on the health, prospects and well-being of the less well-off in communities across the country. What seems so clear and so obvious from our national data on criminality, educational attainment and deprivation and the relationship between them is often firstly denied to have any impact at all and secondly, to not even exist in the first place. ADVERTISEMENT A politician colleague said to me recently, “Do you have to bring class in everything?” I sharply responded, “As long as it exists I do”. This was not the first adverse reaction to raising the issue I had received but I refuse to be made feel like I shouldn’t. The devastating impact of social class in Ireland is not an abstract concept to me and hundreds of thousands of others all over this island. People who have had their lives determined by a class system that they wore born into; by luck and luck alone. ADVERTISEMENT ‘Institutionalised inequality of the class system’ I often sit and read all the letters I have received from friends in prison in a shoe box. The letters are all in small brown envelopes and many of them start with “Alright Lynn, just me here on the end of the pen”. In a margin down the side there are lists of young boys’ names neatly written in columns and beside each name is the length of the sentence they are serving. This long list of boys, some still alive but many of them now dead all have a common thread in their letters, the same aspirations for their release. “When I get out I am going to go back to school, when I get out I am going to Youthreach, when I get out I am not going to get in trouble again.” But what happens to their ambition? It is as if with the first steps out of St Patrick’s Institution, Oberstown or Wheatfield; any ability they have to exert any agency, control or direction over their lives evaporates. ADVERTISEMENT It didn’t matter how much they wanted to improve their situation, they had little to no agency against the institutionalised inequality of the class system. The class system is too powerful for many young boys to exert any power over their circumstances. Decision making is coerced by the inequality of our conditions, often leading to young men from working class communities being perpetually punished for a system they had little real control over. Whether it be on the Micro, the Mezzo or the Marco, young men who experience poverty, deprivation and prison face challenges at every turn, making it feel impossible to manoeuvre through this interconnected web of obstacles. This may include struggles within the family home, schools refusing to lift expulsions, little access to social and financial capital, low educational attainment and all-round feeling of helplessness. Considering a majority of the men in the IRPT’s statistics were unemployed at the time of arrest and add in the low educational attainment of prisoners you would wonder what the logic is in pumping so much money into the prison system rather than focusing on prevention by addressing inequality of conditions. It is sad to say that it appears to be just another tool in the reinforcement of class. ADVERTISEMENT As I stated earlier, the connection between deprivation, disadvantage and criminality is clear, yet we fail to address the conditions that has contributed to this while expecting offenders to ‘learn their lesson’ and reintegrate into society as law abiding citizens. Maybe sometimes it is less about learning lessons and more about creating a fairer society that reduces deprivation and disadvantage, which will in turn reduce criminality and reoffending. Lynn Ruane is an Independent Senator in Seanad Éireann, representing Trinity College Dublin. She is also a member of the civil engagement group in the Seanad and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education & Skills.

The devastating impact of social class is not an abstract concept to hundreds of thousands on this island' Working class communities are punished for a system they had little real control over, writes Lynn Ruane. Sunday 12 August 2018 19:31 51,977 200 THE IRISH PENAL Reform Trust released figures to us on the Oireachtas Education Committee earlier this year stating that the majority of the current cohort of Irish prisoners had never sat a State Exam and over half had left school before the age of fifteen. It was also reported that prisoners in Ireland were twenty-five times more likely to come from deprived communities. The relationship between deprivation, disadvantage and criminality was clear in the data we received and from my point of view, there for everybody and anybody to see. Yet in Irish society we do not adequately acknowledge and recognise the role that social class plays when looking to the number of young men in the prison system or as a broader socio-economic phenomenon which impacts on the health, prospects and well-being of the less well-off in communities across the country. What seems so clear and so obvious from our national data on criminality, educational attainment and deprivation and the relationship between them is often firstly denied to have any impact at all and secondly, to not even exist in the first place. ADVERTISEMENT A politician colleague said to me recently, “Do you have to bring class in everything?” I sharply responded, “As long as it exists I do”. This was not the first adverse reaction to raising the issue I had received but I refuse to be made feel like I shouldn’t. The devastating impact of social class in Ireland is not an abstract concept to me and hundreds of thousands of others all over this island. People who have had their lives determined by a class system that they wore born into; by luck and luck alone. ADVERTISEMENT ‘Institutionalised inequality of the class system’ I often sit and read all the letters I have received from friends in prison in a shoe box. The letters are all in small brown envelopes and many of them start with “Alright Lynn, just me here on the end of the pen”. In a margin down the side there are lists of young boys’ names neatly written in columns and beside each name is the length of the sentence they are serving. This long list of boys, some still alive but many of them now dead all have a common thread in their letters, the same aspirations for their release. “When I get out I am going to go back to school, when I get out I am going to Youthreach, when I get out I am not going to get in trouble again.” But what happens to their ambition? It is as if with the first steps out of St Patrick’s Institution, Oberstown or Wheatfield; any ability they have to exert any agency, control or direction over their lives evaporates. ADVERTISEMENT It didn’t matter how much they wanted to improve their situation, they had little to no agency against the institutionalised inequality of the class system. The class system is too powerful for many young boys to exert any power over their circumstances. Decision making is coerced by the inequality of our conditions, often leading to young men from working class communities being perpetually punished for a system they had little real control over. Whether it be on the Micro, the Mezzo or the Marco, young men who experience poverty, deprivation and prison face challenges at every turn, making it feel impossible to manoeuvre through this interconnected web of obstacles. This may include struggles within the family home, schools refusing to lift expulsions, little access to social and financial capital, low educational attainment and all-round feeling of helplessness. Considering a majority of the men in the IRPT’s statistics were unemployed at the time of arrest and add in the low educational attainment of prisoners you would wonder what the logic is in pumping so much money into the prison system rather than focusing on prevention by addressing inequality of conditions. It is sad to say that it appears to be just another tool in the reinforcement of class. ADVERTISEMENT As I stated earlier, the connection between deprivation, disadvantage and criminality is clear, yet we fail to address the conditions that has contributed to this while expecting offenders to ‘learn their lesson’ and reintegrate into society as law abiding citizens. Maybe sometimes it is less about learning lessons and more about creating a fairer society that reduces deprivation and disadvantage, which will in turn reduce criminality and reoffending. Lynn Ruane is an Independent Senator in Seanad Éireann, representing Trinity College Dublin. She is also a member of the civil engagement group in the Seanad and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education & Skills.

The devastating impact of social class is not an abstract concept to hundreds of thousands on this island' Working class communities are punished for a system they had little real control over, writes Lynn Ruane. Sunday 12 August 2018 19:31 51,977 200 THE IRISH PENAL Reform Trust released figures to us on the Oireachtas Education Committee earlier this year stating that the majority of the current cohort of Irish prisoners had never sat a State Exam and over half had left school before the age of fifteen. It was also reported that prisoners in Ireland were twenty-five times more likely to come from deprived communities. The relationship between deprivation, disadvantage and criminality was clear in the data we received and from my point of view, there for everybody and anybody to see. Yet in Irish society we do not adequately acknowledge and recognise the role that social class plays when looking to the number of young men in the prison system or as a broader socio-economic phenomenon which impacts on the health, prospects and well-being of the less well-off in communities across the country. What seems so clear and so obvious from our national data on criminality, educational attainment and deprivation and the relationship between them is often firstly denied to have any impact at all and secondly, to not even exist in the first place. ADVERTISEMENT A politician colleague said to me recently, “Do you have to bring class in everything?” I sharply responded, “As long as it exists I do”. This was not the first adverse reaction to raising the issue I had received but I refuse to be made feel like I shouldn’t. The devastating impact of social class in Ireland is not an abstract concept to me and hundreds of thousands of others all over this island. People who have had their lives determined by a class system that they wore born into; by luck and luck alone. ADVERTISEMENT ‘Institutionalised inequality of the class system’ I often sit and read all the letters I have received from friends in prison in a shoe box. The letters are all in small brown envelopes and many of them start with “Alright Lynn, just me here on the end of the pen”. In a margin down the side there are lists of young boys’ names neatly written in columns and beside each name is the length of the sentence they are serving. This long list of boys, some still alive but many of them now dead all have a common thread in their letters, the same aspirations for their release. “When I get out I am going to go back to school, when I get out I am going to Youthreach, when I get out I am not going to get in trouble again.” But what happens to their ambition? It is as if with the first steps out of St Patrick’s Institution, Oberstown or Wheatfield; any ability they have to exert any agency, control or direction over their lives evaporates. ADVERTISEMENT It didn’t matter how much they wanted to improve their situation, they had little to no agency against the institutionalised inequality of the class system. The class system is too powerful for many young boys to exert any power over their circumstances. Decision making is coerced by the inequality of our conditions, often leading to young men from working class communities being perpetually punished for a system they had little real control over. Whether it be on the Micro, the Mezzo or the Marco, young men who experience poverty, deprivation and prison face challenges at every turn, making it feel impossible to manoeuvre through this interconnected web of obstacles. This may include struggles within the family home, schools refusing to lift expulsions, little access to social and financial capital, low educational attainment and all-round feeling of helplessness. Considering a majority of the men in the IRPT’s statistics were unemployed at the time of arrest and add in the low educational attainment of prisoners you would wonder what the logic is in pumping so much money into the prison system rather than focusing on prevention by addressing inequality of conditions. It is sad to say that it appears to be just another tool in the reinforcement of class. ADVERTISEMENT As I stated earlier, the connection between deprivation, disadvantage and criminality is clear, yet we fail to address the conditions that has contributed to this while expecting offenders to ‘learn their lesson’ and reintegrate into society as law abiding citizens. Maybe sometimes it is less about learning lessons and more about creating a fairer society that reduces deprivation and disadvantage, which will in turn reduce criminality and reoffending. Lynn Ruane is an Independent Senator in Seanad Éireann, representing Trinity College Dublin. She is also a member of the civil engagement group in the Seanad and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education & Skills.

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Irish Examiner: 'Inmate deaths lead to call for culture change' | Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT)

Irish Examiner: 'Inmate deaths lead to call for culture change' | Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT)

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ENCOURAGECHANGE.: Social Class Jigsaw Puzzle?

ENCOURAGECHANGE.: Social Class Jigsaw Puzzle?

EncourageChange's Bookmarks on Delicious

EncourageChange's Bookmarks on Delicious

Blog | Ivana Bacik

Blog | Ivana Bacik

Limerick councillor charged with public order offences after night in custody

Limerick councillor charged with public order offences after night in custody: A LIMERICK councillor arrested over a public order offence this weekend has claimed gardai hit him with a baton, leaving him with a head injury. Independent City West member John Loftus – who spent Saturday night in a cell at Roxboro station – says he will refer officers t...

IMF Executive Board Approves New Framework for Enhanced Engagement on Governance

IMF Executive Board Approves New Framework for Enhanced Engagement on Governance

Should judges be required to publicly declare their interests?

Should judges be required to publicly declare their interests?: Should judges should be obliged to make annual declarations of interests – such as property, gifts, land, and shares – in much the same way as TDs and Senators already do? Minister Shane Ross thinks so.

Should judges be required to publicly declare their interests?

Should judges be required to publicly declare their interests?: Should judges should be obliged to make annual declarations of interests – such as property, gifts, land, and shares – in much the same way as TDs and Senators already do? Minister Shane Ross thinks so.

Findings of Mountjoy Visiting Committee Report of serious concern | Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT)

Findings of Mountjoy Visiting Committee Report of serious concern | Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT)

Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults - Ireland's Health Service

Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults - Ireland's Health Service

Italian police bust drug trafficking Camorra clan and retrieve stolen Van Gogh paintings worth $100 million

Italian police bust drug trafficking Camorra clan and retrieve stolen Van Gogh paintings worth $100 million

WORLDS MOST DANGEROUS DRUG GANGS: Gangster 'Mad Dog' in savage beating of murder supergrass

WORLDS MOST DANGEROUS DRUG GANGS: Gangster 'Mad Dog' in savage beating of murder supergrass

ENCOURAGECHANGE.: October 2009

ENCOURAGECHANGE.: October 2009

The conflict in Syria was always Israel’s war

The conflict in Syria was always Israel’s war: Because Israel has staked first its survival and ultimately its growth into a dominant regional power on the disunity of its neighboring nations, it comes as no surprise that, faced with a winding-down of the Syrian conflict, it is now moving sharply against that development.After years of fomenting the Syrian conflict from the shadows, the U.

Welcome to the empire of chaos

Welcome to the empire of chaos: When globe-trotting journalist and keen geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar refers to the United States as the “Empire of Chaos,” it may seem like hyperbole. But upon looking deeper at both Escobar’s coverage and the United States’ foreign policy itself, it is perhaps the most accurate title for this political entity and its means of operation, perhaps more apt than the name “The United States” itself.

USAID and Wall Street: conflicts, coups, and conquest

USAID and Wall Street: conflicts, coups, and conquest: In 1928 when the US-based United Fruit Company – now known as Chiquita Brands International – faced labor issues in Columbia, it had at its disposal Colombian troops which gunned down hundreds of strikers to maintain production and profits.Ensuring that Columbia protected “American interests” was the US State Department who hosted company representatives at the US embassy in Bogotá, which in turn was in contact with Washington.