Inside Loughan House: ‘We do the best we can’

This is the last in a special series on Loughan House Open Prison in Blacklion. Reporter Róisín McManus looks this week at how the facility and the community benefit one another. She also examines the costs of keeping prisoners, mental health and addiction services and travels to Castlerea Prison to compare the experience in a high-security prison with detention in Loughan House...

For more than 50 years, Loughan House has been a feature of life in Blacklion and a unique part of the Irish Prison Service (IPS).

The open centre was recently awarded Station of the Year at the inaugural Ireland Blue Light Awards, celebrating the achievements and dedication of Blue Light and Front Line services nationwide.

Governor Mark Lydon is “really thankful” to the local community for their ongoing support and belief in the centre. “We encourage the local population to come in,” Mr Lydon says.

“The social enterprise is 10 years open this year, and throughout those 10 years, the local community have fully supported Loughan House by coming in and buying coffee, buying flowers, getting cars washed and supporting and engaging with us on a human level.”

That connection was sorely missed during Covid when they had to close the gates to the public and was appreciated all the more when they reopened.

“I think we’re a strong part of the community and I don’t think we could exist without the community support.”

Assistant Governor Johnny Higgins says that Loughan House is not just “planted” in the area, and that having good relationships with the local community is beneficial to everyone.

In the early years of the west Cavan facility, there were some absconsions, where prisoners tried to escape their sentence.

Although there remains the potential for walk outs to occur, instances have reduced in recent years, as the majority of those in custody are aware they will lose the privilege of being in an open centre once they are caught.

Blacklion Cllr John Paul Feeley describes Loughan House as “all in all a positive story”, with some “hiccups,” and a “positive part of life” in the area.

“People get to see it’s not some grey prison full of dangerous people,” Mr Feeley says, adding that the people in custody there are “trying to straighten themselves out”.

The centre, he says, has benefitted the local economy as some members of staff have settled in the local community and wider region.

As one of only two open prisons in Ireland, Loughan House, Mr Lydon says, “occupies a place in the prison system” where prisoners are given a chance to get ready for release.

Former woodwork teacher Thomas Doonan believes that the rehabilitation of prisoners is a step in the right direction, particularly given the high cost of keeping a person in prison.

“Years ago, there would’ve been a lot of them coming in that had nowhere to live, that had alcohol and small substance abuse and were getting into jail for petty things,” Mr Doonan recalls.

“Those people aren’t really in jail now. They’re trying to get them to do community service because it’s very expensive to keep people in jail, and if there was some other way of getting them rehabilitated or getting them back on track with a bit of guidance and help, that’s a better way forward.”

Cost of keeping a prisoner

The most recent IPS annual report for 2024 shows that the average annual cost of an available, staffed prison space was €99,072 - an 11.9% increase on 2023.

The primary reason for the increase is cited as “increased variable costs due to increased prisoner numbers, increased capacity, inflation and increases in payroll costs”.

The issue of overcrowding is highlighted as having presented “significant challenges” in the past, and one that remains a “substantial barrier to effective rehabilitation”.

In a statement to The Anglo-Celt, the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT), Ireland’s leading non-governmental organisation campaigning for rights in the penal system and reform of penal policy, says that Irish Prisons are “in crisis” and overcrowding has become the “defining issue” shaping conditions, safety and access to healthcare: “Ireland’s prisons are overcrowded because too many people are imprisoned, not because our population is expanding.”

The statement outlines the “stark” consequences, with prisoners sharing “cramped cells no bigger than a car-park space, often sleeping on mattresses on the floor beside unpartitioned toilets”.

Overcrowding “fuels distress and exacerbates mental-health harms” and prisons, although they were “never designed” to manage complex mental‑illness or acute psychological crisis, very often have become the “default response” because community services are unavailable and often people in crisis are turned away without accessing the help they need.

The statement also highlights concerns around addiction, as the IPS estimates that more than 70% of those in custody struggle with addiction, yet access to treatment is “limited”.

“Overcrowding, poor sanitation and inadequate mental‑health care are symptoms of a deeper problem: Ireland continues to use prison as a response to the failure of other social services rather than addressing the root causes of criminality and supporting people to move on with their lives.”

Along with calls for improvements in mental health provision, basic dignity, sanity, oversight and transparency, and a bail support scheme for the adult prison system, the IPRT is calling on the government to take action to reduce the prison population by expanding community-based alternatives to custody for people serving sentences of 12 months or less, and to redirect justice investment towards the social supports that prevent offending in the first place.

“A cross-government response to ensure secure housing, adequate income, healthcare, alternative education supports and youth work opportunities do far more to reduce offending than expanding the prison estate.

“Sustained investment in reintegration is critical. People leaving prison must have access to housing, healthcare, education and employment supports if we are serious about reducing reoffending and easing pressure on the prison system,” the report reads.

Overcrowding is seen most clearly in closed prisons - where all prisoners are first committed, as both Loughan House and Shelton Abbey operate shy of 100% capacity.

Life in Castlerea

The Celt recently visited Castlerea Prison in Co Roscommon, which is the committal prison for this region, to see what life is like inside a closed prison.

On the day of the visit (Thursday, July 2), Castlerea Prison was operating at 126% capacity with 480 in mates detained despite a total bed capacity of 381.

Last September, the Office of the Inspector of Prisons (OIP) completed an unannounced general inspection of the prison.

Mark Kelly, Chief Inspector of Prisons, said he “fully” shares the “deep concerns” expressed about the state of Ireland’s prisons in the Council of Europe’s European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) visit report, which was completed in Castlerea the previous year.

The CPT had expressed the view that the treatment of some vulnerable prisoners who are severely mentally ill could be considered inhumane and degrading, and the inspection team consequently examined whether steps have been taken to improve the situation in light of its recommendations.

“While some of the accommodation at Castlerea is of a high standard and work, training and education are being prioritised, there is still a significant cohort of prisoners who spend their lives in overcrowded cells, sleeping on mattresses on floors, for up to 23 hours per day,” Mr Kelly said.

“It is unconscionable that, in 2025, prisoners in Ireland continue to be held in such conditions.”

Entering and travelling around the closed facility was an entirely different experience to Loughan House, with stricter rules and only staff and prisoners allowed on the grounds.

This difference was perhaps felt most strongly in the A Block, which is the first area of accommodation for those who have been committed there.

Taking a look into one of the tiny shared cells is confronting, with only a very small grated window on one wall, and a seatless toilet hidden behind a half-wall for the two prisoners occupying the cell to share. The room’s red concrete wall appears to be lit only by the distant light peering in through the cracks in the grated window.

The majority of prisoners in Castlerea share cells. While efforts are made to accommodate prisoners suitably, like in all prisons, they may end up on mattresses on the floor, and may have to share with others who may be distressed, including those with mental health issues and addiction issues.

Walking around the gated grounds of the prison, groups of uniformed prisoners wearing high-viz vests are carrying out maintenance works, mowing the lawn to a tee and tending to colourful flowers.

“We’re very lucky,” says Governor Theresa Beirne.

“We have green grass. Other prisons don’t have that luxury.”

There are also groups of prisoners working outside at the polytunnel. Staff must be vigilant here in ensuring there is no contraband lying around before prisoners can enter.

More prisoners are working in the laundry room. Proper standards of cleaning are of the utmost importance here to prevent outbreaks of scabies that can occur as a result of overcrowding.

One of the prisoners working there tells this newspaper that he is completing a Masters degree in English and Philosophy while in custody.

Through good behaviour and engagement, prisoners in Castlerea can, in the same way as in other institutions, work to improve the quality of their time in custody by making efforts to move across three regime levels; basic, standard and enhanced. In doing so, prisoners can gain more phone calls and potentially be put on temporary release, and can earn more time in school, the gym and at work.

The Grove

The prison also has a residential area called the Grove, where prisoners who have engaged well can be placed. There is currently work ongoing to deliver a total of 216 additional prison spaces between the Grove and the main prison.

In the Grove, prisoners can move more freely and live independently in shared houses. There is also a barber shop and a men’s shed.

A prisoner who has completed training in barbering is working in the barbers, where prisoners can go to get their hair cut and have a chat. In the men’s shed, there are three prisoners with their heads stuck in a lawnmower carrying out repairs.

Ms Beirne says their focus is on “unlocking potential” in prisoners.

“The prisoner has a choice when they come in of what particular road they want to go on,” she explains.

“We’re giving the choice to the prisoner to make, and if they decide to go down the positivity route of choice, we’ll encourage, support, and motivate them.

“There are prisoners that don’t want to go on that particular road at that time of their life but we have to keep encouraging, motivating them because, at the end of the day, where we have to provide safe custody, we also have to rehabilitate as best we can because prisoners will be returned back to their communities.”

In dealing with overcrowding there, prison staff, the governor says, “just get on with it.”

“You’ve seen what [prisoners are] coming to on A1 and how many are in a cell,” she says.

“It’s very difficult circumstances at times, especially in relation to prisoners coming in with mental health issues but that’s what our job is. We can only do the best we can with what we have now here at the moment.

“In some ways, for anyone coming into custody, coming into an overcrowded prison, maybe it’s a deterrent. But we don’t have any control over that, we do the best we can.

“As Governor in charge of this prison, yes it has its challenges, with overcrowding, with mental health, but at the same time, we’re very proud of the staff who work here, of the services, of what they give, the external services, and also community groups and the prisoners themselves that want to engage.”

In response to a query from this newspaper, an IPS spokesperson outlined: “The Irish Prison Service is required to accept into custody all persons committed to prison by the Courts and has no role in determining the number of people sent to custody at any given time. Where the number of people in custody exceeds the maximum capacity in any prison, the Irish Prison Service makes every effort to manage this safely, including the use of Temporary Release where appropriate.”

Since 2022, there have been 446 additional prison spaces delivered, and there are aims to deliver a further 65 this year and 70 next year. The IPS also assesses opportunities for additional capacity within the existing prison estate.

By 2031, the IPS aims to deliver 1,500 additional prison spaces, including new accommodation in Castlerea, Midlands, Wheatfield, Mountjoy, Cloverhill and the Dóchas Centre (Mountjoy Female Prison), as well as the redevelopment of the former Cork Prison site.

Addiction services

With regard to addiction services for prisoners, the spokesperson outlined: “The IPS provides a multi-disciplinary approach that supports people in custody with addictions in a structured, safe and professional manner in line with international best practice.”

There are currently two full-time MQI addiction counsellors based at Castlerea Prison, and a total of 20 addiction counsellors working across the prison estate.

As of July 6, 2026, there were a total of 35 prisoners waiting for a bed in the Central Mental Hospital (CMH), and two of those were in Castlerea.

Responding to a query on capacity in the CMH, a spokesperson from HSE Dublin and North East stated: “Referral and admission to the CMH is governed through a structured process. On a weekly basis individuals in prison with severe mental illness are considered for admission to the CMH, including consideration of the appropriate level of therapeutic security that is required. If the CMH is not deemed the appropriate level of security, recommendations are made for admission to facilities with lower levels of therapeutic security.”

The CMH currently provides care and treatment to 114 admitted patients.

The National Forensic Mental Health campus opened in 2022 and incorporates the relocated CMH, which moved from Dundrum to Portrane. The CMH previously had capacity for 96 patients, and will have capacity for 130 patients when all beds become fully operational in the third quarter of 2026.

HSE funding is to be provided for the National Forensic Mental Health Service (NFMHS) to commence on a phased basis the opening of a new Forensic Intensive Care Rehabilitation Unit at Portrane. When fully operational this unit will have capacity for 30 patients.

“It is envisaged that this service will positively impact system-wide by relieving pressure on both forensic and general mental health pathways, and in the Irish Prison Service.”