Investigators probe security breach at Portlaoise Prison
A major investigation has been launched at Ireland’s maximum security prison after a visitor was discovered in an unauthorised area.
The Irish Prison Service (IPS) today confirmed the security breach on December 18 at Portlaoise Prison, where the country’s most notorious criminals are housed.
However it stressed the man – who held a visitor’s pass and had gone through a security check – did not gain access to where inmates were accommodated or the prison landing.
Gardaí are also probing the incident.
No disciplinary action has yet been taken against any members of staff.
“This breach involved a visitor gaining access to an area of the prison to which he should not have been permitted,” said a spokesman.
“It should be noted that the person concerned had been thoroughly searched before being admitted to the prison for the purpose of visiting a prisoner.
“The Governor has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding this security breach and accordingly it would be inappropriate to comment further pending the outcome of that investigation and any disciplinary proceedings that may arise.”
Portlaoise Prison is home to the country’s biggest criminals including Dublin thug John Gilligan, whose gang was responsible for the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin in June 1996, members of the Dublin and Limerick drug-trafficking gangs, and disaffected terrorist inmates.
The security blunder was the latest to hit the facility within the last year.
In May, a live budgie, at least eight smuggled mobile phones, three Sim cards, drugs, homemade alcohol and 30 syringes were seized from inmates’ cells.
That search was sparked after armed robber John Daly telephoned a live radio programme from an illegal mobile phone from his cell.
The 27-year-old Dublin criminal was shot dead in a taxi in October shortly after his release.
