New 'healing' prison in Ireland points to long history of progressive penal reform

Ireland has formally opened the new women's wing of the Limerick prison. This expansion was desperately needed. The former wing was at 164% capacity, with women reportedly sleeping on mattresses on the floor of what were already inadequate conditions of a dilapidated 19th-century building. The new build now offers space for 50 women, an increase in capacity of 78%. It also eschews the dehumanising cliches of the traditional prison environment.