Sinn Féin: Decision to begin demolition works at former Cork prison 'insulting to our history'

SINN FÉIN TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould, has said it is a “shameful day” for the Irish Prison Service and the Department of Justice, who are moving forward with plans to demolish part of the historic Cork Prison site.

The 220-year-old former jail is closely associated with Thomas Kent, the Irish nationalist who was executed by firing squad in 1916 for his role in the Easter Rising. 

Kent was buried in Cork Prison, where he remained for 99 years in a quicklime grave. His remains were exhumed in 2015 after Taoiseach Enda Kenny offered a State funeral to the Kent family, which they accepted.

Irish Republicans Terence MacSwiney and Tomás Mac Curtain are also associated with the site.

Gould said that while the government has u-turned on its decision to fully demolish the site, today’s decision will see “the memory of our martyred dead” locked away.

“How can you commemorate a building behind prison walls?,” Gould asked. 

In a statement this afternoon, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said plans have been approved to allow for conservation and demolition works at the former Cork Prison site.

The decision comes as part of plans to expand the population capacity of Cork Prison, increasing the male prisoner capacity by 230 beds and the female capacity by 100 beds.

O’Callaghan said that a number of historically significant structures and features in the site will be retained.

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These include: 

• The main entrance’s historic gatehouse;
• The cell occupied by Thomas Kent;
• A-Wing and B-Wing immediately adjoining the entrance;
• The stone bastion features and identified sections of the historic prison walls.

The minister said he is confident the approach being taken “strikes an appropriate balance between protecting the site’s heritage and delivering essential prison infrastructure”. 

He said the actions and legacy of Kent, MacSwiney and Mac Curtain will be “appropriately acknowledged”. 

Today’s decision comes after Cork city councillors unanimously voted last month to add the former jail to the Register of Protected Structures in an effort to stop the plans to demolish it for the new prison. 

In his statement today, Gould said: “I want to be clear. The Minister for Justice’s decision does not represent the people of Cork, the people of Ireland or even the members of his own party who have stood up for Cork’s Kilmainham in the face of a wrecking ball.”

He added:

“It suits those in power to force us to forget those who stood up to power.

“I will fight tooth and nail to stop this from happening.”

Gould noted that the decision today does not mention conservation plans for the execution yard where Kent’s remains were buried. 

“The reality is that this remains a sacred site. Claiming they will preserve the cell but lock it away for another 99 years is nothing but an insult to his memory and the memory of those who fought and died for Ireland.

“Where once Frank Aiken and Sean Collins-Powell saw a site of remembrance and martyrdom, the Irish Prison Service and this Government see fit to do nothing but make tokenistic references to commemoration,” he said.

Gould argued that if the government was really so concerned about prison overcrowding, it would be actively developing a prison in Thornton Hall, as proposed.