An energising day with Invisible Walls Corin Morgan-Armstrong from Invisible Walls and people working to support families affected by convictions and imprisonment in Ireland, north and south - with Irish Penal Reform Trust and CDI

🗣️ This week, Saoirse Brady and Dr. Helen Kehoe have been busy discussing IPRT's priorities with politicians.

Thank you Pa Daly (@sinnfeinireland), Neasa Hourigan TD (@greenparty_ie) and Jim O'Callaghan TD (@fiannafailparty).

We look forward to meeting more politicians on these important issues.

It's been inspiring to hear from Corin Morgan-Armstrong about Invisible Walls's innovative work to support people in prison maintain strong family relationships underpinned by child-friendly visiting.

The evidence is overwhelming about how well it works for everyone involved

It's encouraging to see election candidates engage with the important issues we're raising. Thank you Sinéad Gibney. We hope more candidates will follow suit.

The letter to Simon Harris TD included a number of our priorities. Read it on our website 👉 iprt.ie/latest-news/ip…

✍️IPRT joined politicians, researchers in criminology and criminal justice, and people in the community sector in penning an open letter proposing we adopt evidence-based alternatives to prison expansion in Ireland.

Read the letter in the The Irish Times 👉 iprt.ie/iprt-in-the-ne…

Recruiting in several locations – work with us to support people in community & prison settings into employment & training.
We’re an IIP Gold employer and offer a competitive package plus the job satisfaction of helping people towards a more positive future.
Links in next post.

It was an absolute privilege to respond to Dr Karen Graham's fascinating and thought-provoking research yesterday - thinking about how experiences of education can stay with a person and have such an impact, both positive and negative. So much to think about in an Irish context

IPRT joined Barry Ward 🇮🇪 🇪🇺 on RTÉ Radio 1 Today with Claire Byrne to discuss sentencing, parole and creating safer communities.

'Harsher sentencing only looks at the symptom, not the root cause. Why people are carrying knives needs to be examined.' - Saoirse Brady

📻 iprt.ie/iprt-in-the-ne…

Thanks to Dr Karen Graham (Dr Karen Graham) for an inspiring and informative lecture yesterday on the connections between school and prison and the prison-to-university pipeline, and to Saoirse Brady (@saoirse_b Irish Penal Reform Trust) for her insightful response. UCD Sutherland School of Law

📻 TUNE IN 📻

IPRT will be responding to recent discussions about prison expansion and harsher sentences.

🗓️ Today, Tuesday 16 April
🕦 11.30am
📻 RTÉ Radio 1 Today with Claire Byrne

📻 TUNE IN TOMORROW 📻

IPRT will be responding to recent discussions about prison expansion and harsher sentences.

🗓️ Tomorrow, Tuesday 16 April
🕦 11.30am
📻 RTÉ Radio 1 Today with Claire Byrne

Excellent piece by Keith Adams on how the arguments for prison expansion in line with population growth don't stack up 👇

Irish Penal Reform Trust has written to Taoiseach Simon Harris TD to congratulate him on his recent appointment and to highlight our key priorities for his premiership.

See the text version on our website: iprt.ie/latest-news/ip…

Children who have parents in prison have been working hard on their new upcoming book that will reflect their experiences.

Looks like a lovely day to be drawing outside 🌞

From what I see in the courts, extra prison spaces are not the answer to the complex crime problem. Adequate resourcing of mental health, addiction and community services should be a bigger priority.

Instead we need investment to give people the best life chances possible and tackle the challenges faced by so many in our society in a meaningful and productive way through supports including healthcare and treatment, education, training, housing and youth work.

Investment in prison expansion will do nothing to alleviate the current overcrowding crisis in prisons right across the country and will be cold comfort to those sleeping on mattresses tonight as additional cell capacity is years away and cannot happen in the shorter-term

Our prisons currently represent a microcosm of issues that the whole of society is facing amid a cost-of-living crisis – people experiencing homelessness, poverty and deprivation, mental health challenges, addiction and substance misuse or any combination of these.

From Irish Penal Reform Trust's perspective, increasing prison capacity sends entirely the wrong message – it signals an acceptance on the part of our leaders that more crime is inevitable when in fact it is not.