Portlaoise Prison
| Location | Portlaoise, County Laois |
|---|---|
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | Maximum Security |
| Capacity | 399 |
| Population | 119 (as of 2009) |
| Opened | 1830 |
| Managed by | Irish Prison Service |
| Governor | Ethel Gavin |
Portlaoise Prison (Irish: Príosún Phort Laoise) is a maximum security prison in Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland. Until 1929 it was called the Maryborough Gaol. It should not be confused with the Midlands Prison, which is a newer, medium security prison directly beside it.
The prison was built in the 1830s, making it one of the oldest still operating today in the Irish prison system. It is the prison in which people convicted of membership of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and other illegal paramilitary and designated terrorist organisations are usually detained.
The majority of the inmates are members of drug gangs, and criminals serving life sentences for serious crime. A number of IRA and dissident republican prisoners are housed in "E Block". Anyone charged under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act must be sent to the prison because of its unique security measures.
Soldiers from the Irish Army patrol Portlaoise Prison on a permanent basis.
A large number of well-armed soldiers guard the prison 24 hours a day, making it one of the most secure prisons in Europe.
The security features include a detachment consisting of approx platoon strength, armed with rifles and anti-aircraft machine guns, who patrol the prison complex. An air exclusion zone operates over the entire complex. The perimeter consists of high walls, cameras, sensors and acres of tank traps (Czech hedgehog).
The prison has a capacity for 399 prisoners, but because of the security sensitive nature of its inmates, it operates below this capacity and its daily average number of resident inmates was only 119 in 2009.
There have been various high-profile attempts to spring prisoners from inside the walls. In 1974, nineteen Republican prisoners escaped in one daylight escape.
In 1975, during an attempted escape, Tom Smith of the IRA's Dublin Brigade was shot dead by the Irish Defence Forces. The prisoners had blasted their way through a door in the recreation area into the prison yard. As the prisoners entered the yard, Irish soldiers opened fire on the inmates, shooting Smith in the head.
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