TWO community gardaí have been allocated to Mayfield on a temporary basis, the Minister for Justice has confirmed.
Following a wave of anti-social and criminal behaviour in the area, there have been repeated calls for more community gardaí in Mayfield.
Speaking at the opening of the new Cork Prison yesterday, Minister Frances Fitzgerald confirmed the extra resources and also said that she would increase CCTV operations in problem areas throughout the country.
![Tanaiste and Min for Justice Frances Fitzgerald TD and Michael Donlon, of the Prison Services at the opening of Cork Prison. Picture: Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision]()
Tanaiste and Min for Justice Frances Fitzgerald TD and Michael Donlon, of the Prison Services at the opening of Cork Prison. Picture: Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision
“Now that we have increased resources, you will see increased investment,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Minister also said that there were no definite plans for the future of Westview House on Patrick’s Hill, amid community concern that it would become a step-down facility for female prisoners.
She said that she was aware of local concerns about the building’s use and that discussions were ongoing about its potential function.
“We have to be sensitive to community concerns, but we also need facilities,” she said.
She also said that garda resourcing would have to respond to the fluid policing needs in communities such as Mayfield.
On the new prison itself, Ms Fitzgerald said it was a proud day for Cork to officially open such a modern facility.
“It is a very special day, and a giant step forward in infrastructure for the Irish Prison Service,” said Minister Fitzgerald.
The €44m facility was delivered on time, and on budget, and the cells exceed the average European size, both of which are big achievements, the Minister said.
A prison guard, who asked not to be named, said that the move to the new facility had been positive for both staff and inmates.
“What’s better for inmates is better for us. Inmates have been easier to deal with and in better form since the move,” he said.
Ms Fitzgerald said: “The new facility, the first of its kind in the prison estate, recognises the importance of maintaining, and if at all possible, developing the relationship between offenders and family on the outside.
“All of these new facilities will serve prisoners here well in learning new skills that will assist them in reintegrating into the workforce when their sentence has been served.
“When people come into prison we want to make sure they go out in a place and a state of mind where they don’t want to commit further acts of criminality,” she said.
“We have to keep the public safe and having the kind of facilities we have here in this prison, and throughout the rest of the country, we know that this is the way forward.
“We want to make sure that people serve their time — we will be tough on criminals.
“But we want to make sure that what happens to them inside the prison does not become a breeding ground for more criminality.
“That is the goal,” she said, “to make sure that people have other places to go than criminality when they leave the prison system.”
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