Doing Time-Outside St Nicholas’ Trust Support for Prisoners’ Families

A Conference on the Effects of Imprisonment on Families

______May 13th, 2011. Cork Programme

9.30 – 10.00 Registration 10.00 – 10.30 Welcome and official opening by Mr Brian Purcell, Director General of the Irish Prison Service 10.30 – 11.30 Ms Farida Anderson, MBE, CEO of POP (Partners of Prisoners, UK) Farida Anderson founded POPS in 1988, starting with a small grass roots support agency which has since developed into one that employs over 100 staff and 30 volunteers. Her work is informed by personal experience in this area. 11.30 – 12.00 Tea/Coffee break 12.00 – 1.00 St Nicholas Trust – Support for Prisoners Families, Cork St Nicholas Trust was established in 2008 to identify the needs and issues which concern prisoners families and to provide support and assistance to them, so that relationships can be maintained during the sentence and afterwards. The group provides practical information to families and offers a safe, confidential environment for open discussion and support. 1.00 – 2.00 Lunch 2.00 – 2.45 Bedford Row Family Project, Limerick The Bedford Row Family Project seeks to facilitate the families of prisoners, as a group sharing common interests, to identify the needs and issues which are of importance to them, to develop strategies to address those issues and needs, to carry those strategies through to implementation and to monitor and evaluate progress. Their Research Report entitled 'Voices of Families Affected by Imprisonment' was published in Feb 2008. 2.45 – 4.00 pm Workshop/Discussion Groups 1. Prison and the child – The effects of imprisonment on children, the research, and the rights of the child 2. Prison and relationships – Going Home – How imprisonment affects relationships, how to maintain those relationships and learning to live together again on release.

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Introduction Lisa, Chairperson, St Nicholas Trust.

When we think of a crime, we think of the victims and their families. We sympathise with them and understand the pain and suffering they experience as a result of the crime committed against them. When the perpetrators of these crimes are caught and sent to jail, these victims and their families hopefully get some kind of closure. However the consequences of a crime can be far reaching and crime touches the lives of many people whom at first glance one would not think of as being a victim of crime but in a way they are. Among these are the families of the offenders. These family members – partners, spouses, parents, grandparents, children, brothers, sisters – have done nothing wrong and yet they also experience feelings of despair, loss, isolation, shame, anger and the stigma of being associated with the crime. All of these problems seem even greater when it is the first time these families come into contact with the Gardaí, the Courts, the Legal System and the Prison System. They are entering a world new to them. What can prepare someone for this? The answer is nothing. But help and support can be offered.

Before St. Nicholas Trust was set up there was no official support service or agency specifically designed to meet the needs of family members. When they needed some advice or even just a shoulder to cry on. When they had lots of questions to be answered, they didn’t know who to ask or who to turn to. It was because of this that in March 2008 a group of people made up of family members of people who were in prison for the first time, a member of the probation operating within Cork prison and members of the Education unit came together with the common aim of setting up a support group. All of these people work on a voluntary basis with this project, outside of their normal working hours. In a way it happened like lots of good things happen, when a certain group of people were in the right (or wrong) place at the right time. The family members had specific needs to be addressed, the professionals had experience and much needed access to information and prison personnel. All of them simultaneously recognised a gap in services. Our support group met regularly in a city centre location and at the beginning, it was simply but vitally, a place where people could feel free to talk in a safe, confidential environment with others who in effect were in the same boat as they too had found themselves. Like a lot of support groups, only the other people in the group can truly understand what the others are going through. Many felt there is a stigma involved in even speaking about prison, let alone have a loved one there. They found solace in the fact that they were not alone and that everybody there could relate to what they were speaking about. This group became known as St Nicholas Trust. St Nicholas is a patron saint of children.

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Our primary objectives are to facilitate the families of prisoners as a specific group, sharing common interests. We try to identify the needs and issues that cause concern, to provide practical information to families when a loved one is sentenced to prison and to implement strategies that would address their needs. We work on Community Development principles, to facilitate self-development, empowerment and full participation in all decision-making processes. We also work on the basis that the more a prisoner maintains his ties with his family, the more he is motivated to change and stay out of prison. Family ties are strained when someone goes to prison. The ones who are left behind feel hurt and betrayed by the offender, while at the same time they fear for them, and that fear is worsened by simply not knowing what is happening from the moment he is taken from the court until they meet again. Many of our members describe the first night after the prisoner is taken from the court, being unable to sleep and wondering they their partner, husband, father, son was safe. Not really knowing what the next day would bring. Another of our aims is to increase public awareness of the experiences of prisoners’ families and to be an advocate for the rights of children of prisoners. The rights of these children to maintain a relationship with their fathers or mothers while they are In a way it happened like lots of in prison and the right to be free from good things happen, when a certain judgement themselves. group of people were in the right Our early meetings were mainly (or wrong) place at the right time. support meetings. After a period of time, having come to terms with our situations and learning to manage our lives, it was decided to take a new direction and along with the continuing to support existing and new members, it was decided to share our experiences with other groups and to try to improve the services for people who are visiting Cork prison. The first project we undertook was the production of a booklet, Visiting Cork Prison, which has been warmly welcomed by the Governor of Cork Prison Mr. Jim Collins and also by the Irish Prison Service. This booklet is based on all the questions our group wanted to ask when they were in the situation of going to visit the prison for the first time. It contains information about where the prison was, how to get there from perhaps the bus or train stations, prison visiting times, what the daily life of the prisoner would generally entail, what services and courses were available to them and also some personal heartfelt inputs from members of St. Nicholas Trust. This booklet was very kindly printed by Arbour Hill Prison. We continually distribute this booklet to numerous agencies and also make it available in the waiting room in the prison. We have other plans too. But I’ll speak about those at the end of our presentation. In the meantime, our members have put together some words describing the experiences of the people who have come to the group. These stories are both personal and general. They’re based on the journey we’ve been taken on over the last few years. We didn’t ask to go on this journey but we’ve done our best to make the most out of it, and to use what we have learned to help anyone else coming down this road.

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Summary of Opening address by Mr Brian Purcell, Director General of the Irish Prison Service.

When a person is committed into custody, it affects not only that person but also a wider network of others. Everybody sentenced to prison is somebody’s son, daughter, brother, sister, relative or friend. For prisoners and their families, the feeling of separation is one of the most painful effects of imprisonment. Imprisonment is the greatest penalty that the state can impose on its citizens and the effects are very difficult for both the prisoner and their families and this is why family contact, such as letters, phone calls and visits are so important. Research has shown that the maintenance of these contacts is important in aiding in the re-settlement of these prisoners and accordingly help in reducing the risk of re- offending. The families of prisoners can face emotional, financial, relational and even physical hardships. They can often feel isolated and lost, in strained circumstances for which they are often ill prepared. This can particularly apply when prisoners arrive in prison for the first time. They can often feel shocked and stunned and at a loss about where to go for help. For this reason I want to congratulate the people who are involved in setting up St Nicholas Trust. The Trust fills a gap in the provision of these types of services and is uniquely placed to support families of prisoners with information comfort and solace based on the personal experiences of its members, and respect and understanding for those who get in touch with them. It allows the sharing of experiences and the recognition that the families are not alone. We in the Irish Prison Service are aware of the impact that prison can have on families. Our primary responsibility and remit must be in relation to the prisoners who are committed to prison by the courts, but we are mindful of the difficulties experienced by families and seek to ease their burden at least so far as their contact with the prison is concerned. I’m not saying we have the answers to everything but we are very interested in trying to provide any help or assistance we can to help with this. So I am happy that we were able to assist in the production of the booklet (“Visiting Cork Prison”), it was printed in the prison at Arbour Hill. I also fully support the Trust to allow them to offer a welcome at the visiting facilities at Cork Prison and I know that the Governor, Mr Jim Collins, has been hugely supportive of the Trust. And I acknowledge the work done by others in providing this service in other prisons in Ireland. It’s important that where families have had to travel a long distance to visit, they have a chance to gather their strength and perhaps their thoughts before progressing with their visits.

Prisoner care and rehabilitation is a core aim of the Irish Prison Service. We endeavour to achieve a balance in our function regarding both care and security. I know that the fears of the families of prisoners can be the fear of the unknown but also the fear of exposure of their family member to violence or drugs within the

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prison. Let me assure the people here that levels of violence are very low and limited usually to specific types of situations. Contrary to frequent media portrayals, Irish prisons in general and maybe Cork Prison in particular, have a reputation for good staff/inmate relations. Staff generally looks out for the welfare of those in their charge. We make strenuous efforts to keep drugs out of prison and to help prisoners with their addiction problems. We have a large contingent of health and welfare staff working within the prisons – doctors, nurses, medical staff, addiction counsellors and others who assist and develop the ongoing healthcare provision within our prisons. Some of you will have experienced the security procedures and the drug dog screening. This can be sometimes a shock, particularly for first time visitors but the vast majority of families coming into the prison appreciate the necessity of the provision of this type of security. It’s there to protect both prisoners and staff but it also there to try to ensure that the difficulties associated with drugs are limited. This has a negative impact, we know, but the overall benefit is keeping drugs out of prisons. I am acutely aware of the limitations of the physical infrastructure of the visiting area in Cork Prison and it certainly is a long way behind the visiting facilities we are in a position to provide in other prisons. We are looking at ways of improving the system in general, by enhancing the phone systems and offering extra entitlements on prisoners on enhanced regimes. Indeed one of the core elements we are looking at in terms of the “transformation agenda” as a result of the Croke Park agreement is the provision of an incentivised regime system and this will facilitate what I’m referring to here. The system of “booked visits” has been received very well by families and one key benefit is that it reduces waiting time at visits.

Initiatives such as “Storytime Dads” where inmates record stories for their child has been introduced in a number of prisons and it deserves further consideration. It’s very popular and has been very well received and we will certainly be interested in rolling that out right across the system. We also have opportunities for families to attend events such as art exhibitions and awards ceremonies. Prisoner art exhibitions have been running for the last few years. The Kilmainham Exhibition of prisoners’ artwork, which opened last year, subsequently moved to the Hunt Museum in Limerick and has been well received by both families and other interested in art. It provides a good example of the untapped talents of the inmates and this is something we encourage as much as we can. Among the various services provided by the Irish Prison Service are Education, Work training, Addiction Counselling and Spiritual guidance. All these services are important in addressing missed educational opportunities, offending behaviour, drug and alcohol addiction. They are aimed at helping prisoners achieve positive personal development and subsequently achieve successful re-integration and re-settlement. We are aware that the conditions currently available in Cork Prison as not as we would wish them to be and we are looking at ways to address this. Unfortunately, the current economic climate has brought a cloud of uncertainty in terms of how we will address these issues going forward. We have to remain hopeful and deal with the situation as best we can under the circumstances.

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It is in the area of re-integration that the engagement with families is absolutely critical. It is always said that prisoners come from the community and go back to that community and it’s in that context that the families have a major role to play. There is no way the prison service or the prison system can get to grips in any meaningful way with the issue of re-integration without an ongoing engagement with families. IT is in this context that the work done by St Nicholas’ Trust is so critically important. I do know from my own experience of dealing with prisoner and families and staff that this is a key area and one we try to keep our focus and attention on. Even where resources are tight, as Director General of the Prison Service, I am going to try to make available whatever resources I can. I want to maintain engagement with community and voluntary groups on the outside. I believe it is something we have made progress on to a large extent, particularly in recent years, but I believe myself that there is still room to expand in this area in terms of engagement. It is that partnership model between the prison services and other services concerned with prisoners, it is critical to the success in the care and custody of the prisoners. As Director General I am hugely impressed by the type of engagement which St Nicholas’ Trust provides. It is very important in terms of the welfare of the prisoners in Cork Prison, their families and by extension, the wider community that they come from and will return to. An American politician Brad Henry once said. “Families are the compass that guide us, they are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter. “ I echo that sentiment and I would like, again, to thank you for the great work we do on behalf of the people we have within our system. They are your family members, they are part of the community and I pay tribute to the tremendous work you have done and will continue to do in the future.

It is in the area of re-integration that the engagement with families is absolutely critical. It is always said that prisoners come from the community and go back to that community and it’s in that context that the families have a major role to play.

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St Nicholas’ Trust Presentation

Cathy The Ripple effects of imprisonment

For every individual who is incarcerated there is a circle of people directly affected by their imprisonment. Wives, Husbands, Partners, Children, Parents, Brothers and Sisters can be damaged physically, emotionally, financially and spiritually. One prison chaplains’ report describes this group as suffering the “secondary or collateral consequences of imprisonment”. When a spouse is imprisoned the range of emotions are great. Many of our support group members have stated that they feel as if “we are doing time too.” Time stands still, with their personal effects still where they left them that morning when they left home - the shock, the disbelief, the bewilderment especially for the family of a first time offender, can only be compared to a wave of fear, uncertainty, disappointment, hurt and humiliation. For the family, the social isolation, the re-adjustment to life alone can be a life changing experience. You are no longer a couple; no longer had a family united physically, no longer part of a certain social circle of friends. This is particularly true if your partner has never been in trouble before and it’s the family’s first contact with the prison system. Time stands still, with their Loss of Family Income personal effects still where they One major effect imprisonment can have on left them that morning when they families, is in terms of family income. left home. In the first place, there is the loss of the income from the spouse imprisoned, if he was the main breadwinner in the family. The partner left outside may lose their job due to the imprisonment of their husband. It can be hard to secure employment due to the nature of the crime. It can take a long time to get any social welfare assistance/approval.

The loss of financial income in any family especially where there are children, can add anxiety to an already horrible situation. As well as trying to support the family financially, the partner outside may have to supply the basic necessities for the person in prison, such as clothes, runners, and money for toiletries and sundries. Then there is the expense of travelling to the prison or having to take days off work. This expense is considerable if the prisoner is moved to a prison far away from the family home. Sometimes, after travelling a long distance, you may be refused a visit, if the sniffer dog reacts or if visits are cancelled for that day. The changed financial situation may end in moving house, which is very disruptive for both the partner and the children. For the children this might mean a change of school and moving away from their friends.

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Other issues about financial problems are described in one study of prisoners in Ireland. Here, the prisoners are discussing the problems faced by their partners outside. One father, felt that his family’s situation had got a lot worse, stated that his wife had to give up the job that she had trained for and take up three other jobs in order to earn enough money to support the family. Another talked of the extra strain on his partner, not only in terms of being the sole income earner for their children, but also because she had to give him money when he needed it. Another father stated that his partner had had to start working outside the home since the start of his sentence that, he felt, made things a lot more difficult for her. There can be pressure also on the older children and one father describes how one of his children had left school to start working to support the family since the start of his sentence. Even in a situation where the prisoner was unemployed and on social welfare, this financial support for the family disappears when he goes to prison. Some parents want to compensate for the father being in prison by giving children material goods, worrying that they don’t have the same things as their friends. This is not so much wanting the items themselves, but rather not wanting their children to stand out or be set apart from other children. This can increase the pressure on them to get into debt and to resort to moneylenders. Some single parents who are dealing with a loved one in prison, have to call on other family members to help them with childcare and financial support and this can put a strain on the extended family relationships. When the remaining caregivers, most often wives or female partners, are either forced to leave employment to care for children or to take on additional working hours they have to burden other family members (such as grandparents) with childcare responsibilities. So along with the emotional effects of having a loved one in prison, some people, usually women, are left with the difficulties of coping financially. Like all parents, they want the best for their children. Now, Laura will talk about how prison can affect children, and the difficult decisions faced by parents.

Laura/Lisa Children and Prison

Since coming together as a support group 3 years ago, there have been many distressing issues to trouble some of our members.

When a loved one goes to prison, especially for the first time it is an extremely traumatising and life changing experience. When there are children involved it

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becomes even more traumatic and difficult, because as parents they are now faced with the dilemma of whether or not to tell the children that daddy is in prison and if they will bring the children to see daddy. For some parents they choose to not to tell the children and some decide it’s better they know. Either way it has been one of the most difficult decisions to make for some of our members. One woman decided to bring her child to the prison to see daddy because her child was 10 months old and daddy was serving a long sentence. It was not an easy decision to make but she and her partner had a terrible fear that the bond that the baby and the father had built would be lost if they could not see each other. This woman was torn with feelings of guilt every time she entered the prison with the child, but unfortunately daddy had committed a crime and now they were all serving a sentence, with and without bars. It is the view of many people, including some of our members, that bringing children to prison is wrong but you when you are faced with this dilemma you have very few options. Visiting prison is tough on so many levels, you lose all sense of dignity and feel isolated the minute you enter. When you go for a visit to Cork Prison, you must first wait in a portakabin where there are no facilities for children, and it can be hard to occupy the children whilst they are waiting to see daddy. Then when you are called you must go through the metal detector and maybe be patted down and then you must be searched by the sniffer dog. For this woman putting her child through this regime every week was horrendous but it got worse as the years went by because she had told her child that daddy was “at work “, and as time passed, with it came more questions, which in turn led the mother to create more lies. There is no physical contact in Cork prison so one day daddy was holding and cuddling their baby and the next they are separated by a very wide counter and divided by a perspex screen. It is so hard at the beginning to keep your child back from their father, as it is natural for a child to want to hug and kiss their daddy. Unfortunately as time goes on the children just come to accept that they can’t touch daddy and again the lies continue - such as “you can’t touch daddy because he works with dangerous materials”, “to oh daddy has a cough”. Your visit is a half an hour and can be very stressful as you are constantly under pressure to keep the children back from their dad. You are trying to keep them entertained and at the same time tell your partner about all the issues you are faced with while he is inside. And as daddy is in prison, there is nothing he can do to help when your child is crying because they want to touch him or they are bored. This is extremely frustrating and can be very stressful which in turn causes you to resent your loved one and at times hate them for putting you and their child in this situation. There is nothing easy about visiting prison, but if you have a loved one serving a sentence, prison becomes part of your life. You are constantly worried about the loved one in prison, and also every minute of every day you worry about the effect it will have on your children.

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This woman’s partner is now home and their child still talks about when daddy was in “work” and how she didn’t like going there. The child describes it as daddy’s “yucky work” and still asks if daddy will ever be going back there. Losing a daddy to prison is a trauma for any child and for the mother it is heart wrenching to hear your child ask these questions. Nobody brings a child into the world to have him or her go through situations like these but this is happening day after day and year after year.

All parents in the group asked the following question – should you tell them or not? And this is how she describes her feelings about it. As a parent, in your everyday, normal life, it is extremely difficult to decide what is best or not for your child. So when a parent goes to prison, you are left with the difficult choice – should you bring your children to the prison to visit their Mum or Dad. Or do you choose not to tell them the truth and try to protect their innocence. It’s a constant dilemma for parents. Some parents bring their child to the prison to maintain the bond between parent and child. Others This woman was torn decide to tell their children “Daddy’s got a new job so he had to go away for a while”. In essence this is with feelings of guilt lying to your child. But a parent can only do what every time she entered they think is best and try to maintain the relationship through daily phone calls. the prison with the child, When you chose not to tell your child, there is the but unfortunately daddy constant worry that they may hear it anyway from another source, such as the school yard, while out had committed a crime playing or possibly overhearing a conversation and now they were all between adults. One mother in our group decided not to tell her serving a sentence, with children and constantly tried to protect them from and without bars. finding out where Daddy really was. She didn’t want to bring them into Cork Prison where no physical contact is allowed and these children were used to giving Daddy a kiss or a hug. She felt that they would not understand not being able to do this, as it was completely opposite to their natural environment at home. When their father was moved to an Open Prison, she brought them to visit him, as it was more family friendly. Even though it was still a prison, it was a more pleasant experience for the child, though she still felt the guilt of taking them into a prison environment. Having not told the children that their Daddy was incarcerated, she knows she will have to tell them at some stage because both parents realize that they must be told eventually. Professionals such as psychologists will say that it is best to always tell the truth. But as parents they must do what they feel is right for them and hope for the best outcome possible.

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But as well as the effects for children, people often forget how difficult it is for the parents of adult children to cope with having their son or daughter sent to jail. Ena will speak about the issues that came up for our members who found themselves in this position.

Ena/Barry Parents of Prisoners

My name is Barry. My son is serving 7 years in Cork Prison. He is our only son and the father of 2 children. He grew up a kind and gentle boy, who had never been in trouble before this. When we heard that he had been arrested, it was a devastating blow for my wife and myself. We could hardly believe it. We came to realise that he would be facing a prison sentence and this was a terrible prospect for us all, especially him. He was now in a situation that nothing in his experience, or ours, could prepare him for. Because the case took so long to come to court, I suppose it gave us time to absorb what had happened. When the time came and he went to prison, it was totally devastating and it had a profound affect on our family. My wife and I were totally devastated for our son; my two daughters were equally devastated. In fact it was like a death in the family. We grieved for our son – how would he cope in prison and how would we cope with him being in prison. We felt a deep sadness for what had been the very bad mistake that he had made For a while the sadness and loss overwhelmed us but thankfully our family is strong and we survived. They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. This is certainly true in our case. My family has always been close but we found a new level of closeness having been tested in this way. The first time we saw my son in the prison was heartbreaking. This was never part of the plan. We feared for him and his safety. We all heard the horror stories about prisons. We all decided to stand by him and as a father I am grateful for the support the we all got from our extended family. He has now settled into prison life. He has a job as a cleaner and attends art and woodwork classes in the school. He deeply regrets the moment he made that decision that has greatly affected his like. But he is using his time well. It is a great comfort to us to see that he is coping well. As I said, my family is close and the love we have for our son is helping him to cope. Since his sentence we thought we were going through this alone but we have the support of St Nicholas’ Trust. Finally I would like to thank the Irish Prison Service for allowing him to see his grandfather in hospital before he died.

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We grieved for him – how would he cope in prison and how would we cope with him being in prison.

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Before I start I would like to share with you a poem that a member of our group got when her son received a prison sentence. It makes us ask – which one of us can stand up and say my family is perfect and my family will do no wrong.

No one can see the beauty of his darkened life now; His image has closed like a shadow When people look at him – he has become the mirror of the damage he has done. But he is yours: and you have different eyes that hold his yesterdays in pictures no one else can remember Waiting for him to be born, not knowing who he would be. The moments of his childhood, first steps, first words. Smiles and cries and all the big thresholds of his journey since. He is yours in a way no words can ever tell but you can see through the stranger his deed has made him And still find the countenance of your son.

It is very difficult for parents of people who go to prison. Parents blame themselves for the actions of their adult children. Everyone’s story is different but there are constant similarities. Whether the person in jail is your son or daughter, whether you are the mother, father, sister, brother of grandparent of the person in prison, nobody brings their child up to break the law. And all the men and women in prison are somebody’s children. Speaking to some of these parents, I have heard them express the same sentiments – they feel vulnerable, socially excluded and stigmatised. One mother described the following story. Someone whom she considered a friend, carried around a newspaper cutting of the court case and sentencing of this woman’s son. She was showing it to other people in the village. This woman felt very let down by her friend. As a result, she excluded herself from the community for many months. Until she got a call from St Nicholas’ Trust, something she describes as an answer to her prayers.

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When she went to the support group first, her self-esteem was so low that she couldn’t bring herself to speak about her situation. Gradually, she did begin to participate and now feels the support and confidence of the group. One father described how he felt he was serving a sentence too. He felt, as a parent that he was being questioned, that they as a family were being judged by society for the wrong doings of their son. Then there is the problem of the adult child coming out of prison. One mother described the fears about her son coming home – Would he come home to her? Should she let him come home to her house? Where would he live? Now she was facing different anxieties and fears to the ones she experienced when he first went to prison. St Nicholas Trust gave her the chance to express her worries to the group. The other members of the group were able to support her by describing their own experiences. She realised that she has some control and some say in the situation. She felt that she could let him know that he should get his own accommodation and live independently, while making it clear that she would always give him support and that he would visit her.

The best thing about a support group like St Nicholas’ Trust is that because it is totally confidential, the users feel they are in a safe environment that allows them to express their inner feelings.

I will finish with one of the stories from our booklet – Visiting Cork Prison. This piece shows that sometimes parents can be the last to know what is actually happening with their children and that this could happen to anyone, at any time.

“My life was like everyone else, or so I thought. I will never forget the pain I felt on reading the report in the paper. But like all mothers I was the last to know. I will never forget going to the prison for the first visit: it was the hardest thing I ever did but while looking around I realised I am not alone. There are so many parents in my position. I have come a long way since this happened to me. I feel like a stronger person. I realise it is not my fault. I can only look after myself. I would ask anyone who reads about a neighbour or a friend’s troubles in the paper – approach him or her, support him or her. They need to be talked to, not to be talked about.”

It is very difficult for parents of people who go to prison. Parents blame themselves for the actions of their adult children.

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Ms Farida Anderson MBE Outgoing CEO of POPS – Partners of Prisoners

The Diary of Farida Anderson aged 49 and three quarters….

Life as Normal. I don’t know what that means. What is normal? What do we perceive to be normal? I thought in 1987 that being a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother of twin boys, was normal. But our lives changed forever and that’s why I’m here today. I didn’t ask for it, I didn’t want the journey that I was forced to take, like many of the families here today. But sometimes things happen for a reason. You can analyse, dissect, chose to ignore, or you could chose to say, what is gone wrong? I am going to make sure I make something out of it. There is s saying that any measure of success is only measured by failure. And in America if you read any of the leadership books, there is only one thing they are interested in asking you. You might think it is “Have you got an MBA?” or how educated you are. But actually what they are interested in is how you overcome failure as an individual, in your life and in your work. And any success is about turning failure inside out. So, my life, my children’s life, changed forever. What do you think happened to me? You’ve heard it all already; my partner was sent to prison. Shock! Horror! Yes, shock and horror because it was the first time for me and the first thing I realised was that we are not a homogeneous group – prisoner’s families. What you have here in front of you today is a strong, collective force. And a voice. We are not homogenous as a group and I very quickly realised on my journey that within the families that we work with, that we support, there is literally the good, the bad and the ugly. Not a nice thing to say. But we have to understand that around the concept of prisoners’ families we have whole host of different groups. What I realised when we first got together as a group was that witting, the group itself, we were very quick to pick up on what somebody else had done, what their offence was, or their crime. And there was even a pecking order in terms of which crimes had been committed. I was shocked because I thought the commonality of it was that we all had somebody locked up. But that was a bit naïve on my part. So at the time there were no services for families, no voice. I didn’t even exist. My children didn’t even exist. But in fact my children did exist, because when I used to visit the prison, the staff used to say “It’s great you’ve go kids, love, because they’ll be back here and this will keep us in jobs forever and a day.” So predestined was the future of my children. But, sad as it might seem, statistics say that you are more at risk of going to prison if one of your family members has gone to prison. So I am sorry to have to say to people here who have children, it can happen, with the best will in the world. That’s what research has stated more and more.

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Back then, I was at a complete loss. My family didn’t want to stand by me and couldn’t understand how I could stand by this person. People whose children used to play with my children wouldn’t let me do this any more. Did you know that going to prison is contagious? It’s worse than chicken pox or measles! So the consequences were massive. So, in 1989 I realised that as a powerful group of families, we were scary. We were scary to the people who had always held the power, who decided what was best for us, what we should have and when we should have it, how we should get it and what we should do with it. I remember going into a meeting with the ‘good and the great’ and the chairperson of the meeting spoke to me. She said the Chief Probation Officer wanted to clarify a few things. And I asked what they were. She said, “If we were to give you a house, because I said we needed a centre, a base, would you promise not to turn it into a house of ill repute?” I didn’t even know what that was. “If we were to give you any money, how could we trust you as prisoners’ wives, not to spend it recklessly or to steal it?” Such were the associations, but it is a sad fact of life that you are guilty by association and you have to take some of these preconceptions that people have of you. That was the beginning of our journey. I realised I couldn’t do it on my own, so I had to get “buy in friends” I had to get people who could influence other people because I had no power then. And I needed people who could help. In 1990 the Strangeways riots happened. And this was when my life changed forever. During the Strangeways riots, where were the families? They were outside the prison, waving at the prisoners on the roof, and there were other families full of hysteria and scared stiff that one of their family members hadn’t been hurt inside the prison. Because the media was talking about death, about sex – offenders being beaten up. It was a terrible time. But after the riots came the Wolfe Report. One of the reasons the riots happened was because of the bad conditions in Strangeways. There was no in cell sanitation. People were three in a cell. And the visits were not run properly. The biggest thing I have had difficulty with hearing today, is the experience of people visiting Cork Prison, where there is no physical contact allowed, to not allow your children or you to kiss your partner. It is the most unnatural thing in the world. I understand there are problems with drugs. We have the same problems. Manchester Prison is a Category A prison, the highest security you can have. But you can still kiss your wife. In 1991-1992, we felt the biggest intervention we needed to make was at the courts. We established a Court Project with the use of volunteers. Most of our volunteers are our family service members. And we think this is a very important thing, to do this at a time when everybody says there is no money that you capitalise on the only thing you have, which is the family member at home. You must see them as an asset and not as a problem. If we can change our mindset and see that both the prisoner and the families are part of the solution we would all be in a different place. Around this time too we were getting around the table with the even bigger “good and great” people, the ones who implement policy. In the UK they pay for those families who cannot afford to visit. After the riots we campaigned for this facility to be increased to two per month and they listened.

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In the UK the total prison population is around 85,000 people. One prison is the area where I live has a population of 1,800 prisoners. 8% of the population in the UK is made up of a black, ethnic grouping. But 25% of the prison population is made up of this minority group. So in 1991-92 we set up a Black Prisoners Support Group. As a group starting out it’s important to realise the Rome was not build in a day, and it’s worth laying down solid foundations for your organisation. By 1993 we were 5 years old and felt we had put down good foundations on which to build. By now we were producing Training Videos, Publishing Papers and raising awareness. It’s important to get out there what you are doing. It might seem to you that you have achieved very little but to others who know nothing about you, it may seem like a lot. In all these developments we never lost sight of the one important fact – families are the key to the success of this organisation. It’s not about the professionals it’s about the families By 1994 we were looking at staffing and partnership, because you must remember you can’t do all this by yourself. It’s important to form alliances and allegiances. In this year we were still raising awareness, mainly by having a conference called “Doing Time for No Crime” By 1995 our staffing had increased and we had three family link workers and our funding had increased. In 1996 our annual report was called. “What about us?” By now we felt we were making a very positive contribution to society. In 1997 we became a Limited Company, as up to now we had charitable status. This protects the people working for us. We went on TV this year. And we got our first Visitor Centre build in a Young Offenders Institution for 15 to 17 year olds.

In all these developments we never lost sight of the one important fact – families are the key to the success of this organisation. It’s not about the professionals - it’s about the families.

By 1998 we were celebrating 10 years. We undertook some research on sex-offenders families. We build on our relationships with the prison authorities. In 1999 we got some funding to look at the Health Needs of prisoners and their families. We wanted medical people to look at the health needs of families. We also targeted newly qualified prison officers. In 2000 we secured more funding for our Core Service. This is a difficult area to get funding for, as opposed to funding for project delivery. As we started to grow, more professional people became involved. We started to look at our corporate image. By 2001 we were asking “Who Cares? We do, do you?” engaging in a big conversation about this area. There was some negative comment in newspapers about our work. But you have to be prepared for this to happen. Now, we also did some training, devised by our own families, which showed the prisoners the effects their actions had on the families. They know more about what their victims were feeling than how the families were feeling.

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In 2002 we moved to new headquarters. We increased our staff and signed more contracts with prisons to operate the visiting waiting room areas. In fact, prisons were coming to us now. In 2003 we received Charity of the Year award. One of the most important things to remember when setting up an organisation like this is that while you want to keep responding to the families needs, you must also keep your eye on the bigger picture. It’s important to be supporting and befriending and helping, but unless you are changing and influencing the people in power, who hold the keys, you will find your progress is very slow. This means influencing people locally and regionally and nationally. In recent years we have started to work with Barnardos, looking at children at risk. By 2009 we celebrated 25 years. But it’s important to remember how we started out. One important factor, which had developed by now, was that we had a good relationship with the police service, which previously did not want anything to do with us. Looking at the Victim Support scheme, we feel there should be a similar scheme for offenders’ families. Where the intervention should be made is at the point of arrest in terms of liasing with families. We have started such a scheme with local police where families are given information at the point of arrest. In 2010 our report was called “Real People, Real Lives”. We have just been given a large contract from the government to operate a National Offenders Families Helpline. Now we have contracts in 8 visitors centre, we have an arrest referral scheme with the police. We have an alternative to custody scheme with the Probation Service and we have a drugs and alcohol advice service. We are linking with academic institutions. Now I’ll hand you over to my successor, Diane Curry to speak about the future for POPS.

Ms Diane Curry MBE

Incoming CEO of POPS

As much as POPS has achieved, we must still look to the future. And we are looking to the future in the following ways:

• Back to Basics – We must remember to keep listening to the user’s voice. Keep going back to the families • Families Role – continuing to support the offender. Families are a resource for helping the prisoner and should be valued as such • Integrated Service – now POPS needs to be seen not only as a service for Prisoners Families but as part of a bigger service. And we need to liase with mainstream services and utilise them fully. When we identify where specific services are needed we can draw on these services in the community.

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POPS has managed to improve conditions for families of prisoners and now we need to establish some more community-based services. For example where children of prisoners are going to school, we need to make sure the school is aware of this. Once they are aware of it they can draw on support mechanisms to deal with the stigma attached to this, and try to reduce the experiences of separation and isolation as much as they can. POPS needs to look at the area of research. And get involved in research to use to influence policy as much as possible. Some of this research can be on a Pan European basis. We shouldn’t be afraid to think big and widen our experience as much as possible. Local information is vital but we must share that with the world. We need to look at diverse services that are available to our client group, for example drug and alcohol services. We cannot work in isolation. We need to have a greater understanding of the environment the families live and work in. POPS has recently moved into the area of Youth Offending Service. Previously we had only dealt with adult services, but now we need to look at the area of young offenders. Some of this is preventative work, in the community, rather than responding when they are already imprisoned. POPS continuum of Care includes partnerships with the Police, Probation, and right through to aftercare services. We need to look at multi generational offending, how to prevent the next generation from going to prison,

POPS will continue to raise awareness of the issues

for offenders’ families and for them to be seen as

part of the solution and not the problem.

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Bedford Row Family Project, Limerick

The Bedford Row presentation began with some powerful role-plays.

Role Play 1. A child speaks about how he was affected by the arrest of his father, how he felt visiting the prison for the first time. and how frightened he felt. He describes how angry he feels towards his father. But he gets support from the Bedford Row service and their help allows him to come to terms with this traumatic experience. Role Play 2. Three women. A mother, whose husband is in jail, is upset by the behaviour of her daughter, Claudia, who seems to be following in her father’s footsteps, getting into trouble and being in danger of being sent to jail also. The daughter is a drug addict. Her sister tries to get her to take responsibility for her children, some of who have been taken into care and some of whom are being cared for by the sister. She tries to encourage Claudia to spend more time with her baby by attending the mother and baby group set up by Bedford Row. The mother and daughter argue over the daughter’s stealing habits. They discuss her bother that is also a drug addict.

Breda’s Story

My name is Breda. I am involved in the Bedford Row Project, since 1999. I gave birth to four children, one girl and three boys. It was tough raising four children but there were good times as well as bad times. By the time my twins were eleven year old, one of them was smoking hash. At the time I didn’t even know what hash was. I tried to get help for him but every door was shut in my face because at the time nobody was working with children on drugs under the age of eighteen. Things went from bad to worse with him and soon it was drugs, crime and visits from guards on a weekly basis. By the time he reached the age of sixteen he was given a three-month sentence in Limerick Prison for unruly behaviour. I kept all this hidden from my family because I didn’t want to tell them I had a son in Limerick Prison. Back in June 1999 I went to visit him. I had never been near or inside the gates of a prison. I was petrified. I didn’t know what to do or how to go about it. When I entered the pre-fab I saw people who were waiting to go on their visits. I wanted to run away and hide but a kind woman approached me and asked me if I was OK. She told me what to do and asked me if I wanted a cup of tea. I was so ashamed and embarrassed I wanted to die but that cup of tea saved me on the day. That lady was Noreen and she worked in the hospitality suite for the Bedford Row Project. To this day I am very grateful for the service that Bedford Row is providing for the families. Dermot returned home after his sentence and everybody in our neighbourhood looked up to him, as he was now a hero. But his drug addiction was worse now than it ever was before. This put a lot of pressure on him but it also put extreme pressure on his twin brother. All the other lads were calling him a chicken and saying he was a

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coward, so it wasn’t long before he joined his brother in drugs and crime to feed their habits. Dermot began going in and out of prison on a regular basis and it wasn’t long before he became a heroin user. But also Darren ended up in prison and is now doing a life sentence. All this time I was working with Bedford Row and getting help for my family and myself. I don’t think we would have survived without the help and the listening ear and above anything else – you were never judged. Dermot came out of prison for the last time in 2005. He got help to give up drugs and he was clean for many months but in March 2007 he overdosed and died. He was 24. He has left behind a son aged seven and a daughter aged five. Because of his death, his twin brother turned to heroin too. That was his way of coping with the death of his twin. This had a huge effect on all of us in the family as we found it hard to cope with the death and couldn’t understand but we didn’t give up hope and eventually Darren got help in prison and now he has moved to another prison where he is doing very well. He got into the Education programme and this week he got great results in his subjects of writing and journalism. He wants to be the next Paul Williams. My daughter and my other son are both working full time and have gone for counselling through Bedford Row and have done very well for themselves. I have just finished a two-year training course at the Bedford Row project and have become a Family Support Worker. This is one of the things I am most proud of and it has helped me emotionally and it also helped me to understand and accept my own life. Because of this I am able to understand the people I meet on a daily basis. I love my job and I love helping people. Some days it is heartbreaking, meeting families for the first time. All I can do is my best to make them feel at ease and not to judge them. This year was hard. We have a lot of young mothers using heroin and prescribed medication. They have young children who are in care and family members and other families while they are doing prison time. I find this very hard to accept. But I do know that we cannot give up hope. The issues of prison time and drug addiction have to be addressed. Or our next generation won’t survive. We all have to play a part in this, as the children are our future. To finish off on a happier note, I would like to say something I read sometime – “To the world you might be one person, but for one person you are the world.”

Summary

The role-plays and Breda’s story give an insight into the work done by Bedford Row. On a day-to-day basis. The project was established 11 years ago. It began as a hospitality centre in Limerick Prison, just offering a cup of tea to people who were visiting a loved one, to humanise that often very difficult experience of coming to visit in prison. The hospitality suite is still running and is very necessary. Following from that a project was developed in Limerick city centre and this is the hub of the activity of Bedford Row project now, where we offer one to one support, and we have an open door policy for people. They are accepted for who they are and

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where they are without being judged. We offer counselling to people, a life skills programme, a young mothers’ group. We work with children, running children’s’ groups, teenagers groups. In the last two year we have set up a family support course and trained a number of people who are committed to their communities within Limerick city, committed to responding to the needs they are seeing and Breda is one of the people who has been on that course. Looking at our work in the broader picture, our work is not short term; it is long term and intensive. We believe in people and we believe that change is possible. But this involves staying with people. The people who come to us – such as the child portrayed in the role-play – we would hope to be there for that child, to help the relationship between his father and himself, where his father can be a positive influence on his life even from the prison. We intend to be around in the long term for him. The second role-play showed the complexity of the intergenerational problems we come across where parents have been in prison and now their children are in prison. Currently addiction is a huge problem in Limerick city and on a day to day basis we are struggling with this, looking at how to respond to people. Breda mentioned young mothers that we encounter, where many of their children are gone into the HSE care system. For the children we work with, we want to offer a different perspective to them that when they grow up they might chose something different. Something that will take them away from the situation of imprisonment and offer them more fulfilling and worthwhile lives. This is the work we believe in. Resources are scarce but we intend to be around for the long term. We are planning for thirty years down the road. Our role if to believe in people and not to judge them and offer them something different, something life-giving for them and their children.

Looking at our work in the broader picture, our

work is not short term; it is long term and

intensive. We believe in

people and we believe that change is possible.

But this involves staying with people.

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Workshops

Workshop 1 – Prison and the Child

Facilitators – Brian McNulty, Bedford Row Family Project

Presentation from Manus de Barra, Ombudsman for Children’s Office on the Rights of the Child.

Manus de Barra spoke of the rights of the child and the need to influence European policy. The up-coming referendum on the Rights of the Child was spoken of but no date has yet been fixed for this and no text has been published. It was pointed out by participants that many of the Human Rights changes that had occurred in Ireland were as a result of European rulings and this may be the case for children also. Some questioned how the children of prisoners could be helped through the referendum. Issues raised in the workshop

• Disabled children and visiting prison • Prison staff attitudes to children visiting prison and lack of consistency • Prevention rather than cure and the need for early interventions with prisoners’ children • How the media adds to fear among the children of prisoners • Issues of human rights during visits where physical contact is not allowed with children • Need for judicial review of the rights of prisoners’ children • How best to support the child while the parent is in prison • To tell or not to tell – what to say to the children about the parent in prison • The visiting system – how security measures can be traumatic for children • How children have been exploited by prisoners themselves in terms of smuggling contraband into the prison • Trust – on the part of the prison authorities, the families, the prisoners and the children

Recommendations:

• That the parental status of the defendant be addressed at pre-trial stage to minimise the effects of imprisonment on the child • Awareness training for prison staff of the effects of the visit on the child • Early intervention needed for children of prisoners who may be at risk of offending also

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• Need for a co-ordinated approach to supporting the child by the coming together of all prison families support groups, to lobby politically and seek to influence policy in the future. • Seek a judicial review on the rights of the prisoners’ children. • Promote a positive attitude in society in general towards the families of prisoners and thereby lessen the effects on children regarding the stigma of having a parent in prison. • Seek to influence policy regarding finding alternatives to imprisonment in order to lessen the trauma for the child

Workshop 2 – Prison and Relationships

Presenter/Facilitator – Mr Brendan Moore, Pathways Brendan spoke to the workshop on his own experiences and how he used to behave prior to his arrest and imprisonment. He spoke of his childhood and his upbringing, in a professional family, where he received a third level education. He developed a gambling addiction that eventually led to his conviction and two-year sentence at the age of 46. Prior to his committal to prison he attended an addiction counsellor, which he believes led to insights, which allowed him to change his thinking. Brendan outlined his own experience of coming home from prison and the difficulties for all the family and himself in terms of re adjustment. Brendan stressed the importance of the involvement by prisoners in their own pre- release programme, as they are best placed to know the difficulties involved.

Issues raised in the wider group:

• Why don’t agencies work more closely together to help sustain family relationships? • Agencies should be allowed to go inside the prison before release to help the prisoner prepare • Participants who had also been to prison spoke of the difficulties of being reunited with the family. • Lack of preparation and lack of self-awareness on the part of the prisoners did not help the situation post-release. • Drug addictions and other addictions need to be addressed before and after release. • The issues for women prisoners coming out of prison • How can women ex-prisoners build up relationships again with their children

Recommendations:

• Prisoners should have an input in designing and delivering pre-release courses

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• Individuals who are coming out of prison must take responsibility for their own recovery/rehabilitation • Outside agencies, who will be working with the ex-prisoner and family on a post-release basis should be allowed into the prison prior to release to establish a relationship with the prisoner and build a foundation for further work • More awareness of the effects of imprisonment on the families with a view to preventing the wives/partners/children/parents being ostracised by their own community and having to share the blame for the crime • Support for the ex-prisoner should be ongoing as long as they need it

Conclusion Lisa – Chairperson, St Nicholas’ Trust

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I hope that what you’ve heard gives you a good idea of where St Nicholas Trust came from and what we are trying to do. In many ways we’ve grown stronger or maybe we just learned how strong we could be when faced with a life-changing experience. Mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, partners, sons, daughters and even grandparents – all of these can be affected by having a family member sent to prison. They all feel different things but some things are common to all. They feel let down by their loved one, they feel guilty by association, and sometimes they blame themselves. Sometimes they have to hide how they feel, from their partner in prison, from their families, their children and their neighbours. St. Nicholas Trust has been aiming to develop further as a group and has been successful in achieving different aims. In 2009 we met representatives from different European prisons who visited Cork Prison as part of a Grundtvig Lifelong Learning Project. As a result of this, members of our group were invited to visit HMP Wolds in Yorkshire, which is a private prison in England run by the company G4S. We saw what was available to the offenders in that prison and also what lengths were being taken to promote and maintain positive family relations. For example they have a project called Storybook Dads. This is done in a unit were offenders work in porta-cabins within the prison and where Fathers can go and make a DVD of them reading their child’s favourite bedtime story, the DVD would show them reading the story and maybe just saying something like ‘Good night darling, be a good girl for Mummy. Daddy loves you’. Something so small but something that can mean so much to a child. When prisoners there signed up for Parenting Courses and completed them, they had rewards of Family Days. Here Fathers got extended special family visits, where they could share lunch with their children, sometimes even cooking for them. And where they can sit as a family and eat their meal and talk. They also played with their children, another important activity for building up strong and loving relationships. St. Nicholas Trust has also visited other agencies in Ireland like Bedford Row in Limerick, and Mountjoy and Midlands prisons, to look at how they operate and perhaps absorb some of their good practice into our future undertakings. So we are learning as we progress and using this learning to carefully plan our future. We also met the prison Visiting Committee and Governor Jim Collins who took time out of their busy schedule to meet us and to listen to what we had to say about who we were, what we had done so far and also what we hoped to achieve in the future. We explained to them that we felt there was a need for refreshments and some toys for children to play with in the waiting area in the prison as some people travelled far distances and currently those facilities are not available. They took this on board immediately and some members of our group met with engineers who are already carrying out work in the waiting area. So plans were drawn up and work is due to begin in the near future which will provide an area where visitors can have tea/ coffee/ light refreshments and where there will be a little play area for children.

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We are now in discussion with St Vincent de Paul to set up a system like the one in the Midlands Prison, where their volunteers staff the visiting area. Members from St. Nicholas Trust recently had a very productive meeting with Governor Anne Marie Allen from the Prison Officers Training Unit. We made a proposal to her that in the future, a module may be introduced in which we could have a small input in prison officer training, increasing their awareness of what the visiting experience is like for the families. Visiting can be a very emotional time for both prisoner and visitor and there can sometimes be a need to deal with issues in a sensitive manner. A module while training would be a good way of teaching good communication skills while also teaching officers how to deal with different situations that might not already be considered in their training. We have now applied to Leargas for funding to take part in a Grundtvig European Project looking at issues that arise post release. And how best to prepare for this, both from the prisoner’s point of view and the family’s point of view. If this goes ahead it will be the first time that families of prisoners will be part of a European project, working with Governors, teachers, officers and staff from the various prisons around Europe. St. Nicholas Trusts’ next venture is to produce a booklet- Coming Home. Returning home or even just coming out of prison and reconnecting with your family can be difficult as things may not be as they were when one went to prison. This booklet will hopefully be as positive and successful as our first one. I’d like to thank you all for coming today and we look forward to working with all of you in the future.

In many ways we’ve grown stronger or maybe we just learned how strong we could be when faced

with a life-changing experience.

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Doing Time Outside - List of Delegates

Name Organisation

1. Aine O’Rourke Chairperson, Turas le Cheile 2. Aileen Luxford St Nicholas Trust 3. Aisling O’Leary Housing Dept, Cork City Council 4. Ann Lynch Core Values Officer, Mercy Sisters 5. Anne Sheehy Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas – Support worker 6. Annette Butt Youth Work Assistant Knocknaheeney/Hollyhill GYDP Justice Project 7. Annette Carroll Bedford Row Family Project 8. Anunciata Forde St Vincent de Paul Prison Visitation Volunteer 9. Barry Philpott St Nicholas’ Trust 10. Bernadette O’Connor Youth Ministry – Cloyne Diocesan Youth Services 11. Bernie O’Grady Bedford Row 12. Bernie Roche Family Support Worker – HSE 13. Betty Browne St Nicholas’ Trust 14. Breda Wallace Bedford Row Family Project 15. Breda Woods Dillon’s Cross Project 16. Brendan Moore Addiction Cllr, Pathways Post Release, Dublin 17. Brian McNulty Bedford Row 18. Brian Purcell Director General – Irish Prison Service 19. Carmel Richardson Information Officer, Mountjoy Prison Visitors’ Centre 20. Catherine Coakley Deputy Head Teacher, Cork Prison 21. Cathy Armstrong Deputy Chairperson – St Nicholas’ Trust 22. Celine Lyall St Nicholas Trust 23. Celine Hurley Knocknaheeny Youth Project 24. Ciaran Lynch TD Dail Eireann 25. Clare O’Neill Youth Justice Worker – Knocknaheeney/Hollyhill GYDP Justice Project 26. Claire Murphy Cloyne Diocesan Youth Services 27. Claire Nagle Information Officer Cork City Adult Guidance Service 28. Claudia Bermingham Bedford Row 29. Colm O’Herlihy Head Teacher, Cork Prison 30. David Lane Co ordinator – Local Drugs Task Force 31. Deirdre Kehoe Focus Ireland 32. Deirdre Mehigan Dillon’s Cross Project 33. Deirdre Nagle Foroige 34. Denyse Harrington Addiction Counsellor (Merchant’s Quay), Cork Prison 35. Deirdre Ryan Travellers Visibility Group 36. Dermot O’Regan H.S.E 37. Diane Curry, OBE Director of Operations, Partners Of Prisoners (POPS) 38. Eiblin Davitt Co ordinator – Dillon’s Cross Project 39. Elaine Duhig Family Support Group, Mountjoy Prison Visitors’ Centre 40. Emma Sliney Cork Alliance-Support Worker 41. Ena Howell Secretary – St Nicholas’ Trust 42. Erin Geraghty Cloyne Diocesan Youth Ministry

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43. Farida Anderson, MBE CEO- Partners of Prisoners (POPS), UK 44. Father Michael Kidney Chaplain – Cork Prison 45. Finnula Conlon St Joseph’s Youth Project 46. Fiona Canavan Ogra Chorcai 47. Dr. Fiona Donson Law Dept. Uni. College Cork 48. Frances Russell Co ordinator Cork Prison Post Release Project 49. Gary Griffin Victory Outreach/Turas Le Cheile 50. Gemma Turner Community Drugs Worker Cobh 51. Gillian Turner Community Drugs Worker, Cobh YMCA 52. Gillian Creed Cloyne Diocesan Youth Services 53. Gordon Kinsley, Development Worker Southern Regional Drugs Task Force 54. Governor Anne Marie Allen Governor – Belaad House Training for Prison Officers 55. Hilda Crowley-Hourigan C.W.O. Homeless Services – HSE 56. Jackie Daly Cork City Partnership 57. James Howe Irish Prison Service 58. Jane Mulcahy Research and Policy Officer Irish Penal Reform Trust 59. Jason Luxford St Nicholas’ Trust 60. Jenna Russell Project Leader – Barnardos 61. Jim Collins Governor, Cork Prison 62. Joan O’Donoghue Traveller Visibility Group 63. John Connolly Chief Officer, Cork Prison 64. John O’Sullivan Travellers Visibility Group 65. John Murphy Cork Prison Visiting Committee 66. Julia Buckley St Nicholas’ Trust 67. Kate Gibney H.S.E. 68. Kieran O’Connell Project Worker – Ogra Chorcai/Togher Link Up 69. Kirsten Tyrell Barnardos 70. Laura McDonnell Treasurer – St Nicholas’ Trust 71. Lindsey Butler Social Worker – HSE 72. Lisa McCarthy Chairperson – St Nicholas’ Trust 73. Louise O’Leary Barnardos 74. Louise Murray Social Worker HSE South 75. Mags Creed Community Worker, HSE 76. Mairead Carmody Probation Officer, Cork 77. Mánus de Barra Policy and Human Rights Officer Ombudsman for Children Office 78. Margaret Milliken Manager, Mountjoy Prison Visitors’ Centre 79. Margo Hayes C.D.P Glen Resource Centre 80. Martin Ryan Co ordinator – Youth Advocacy Programme 81. Martina O’Keeffe Community Drugs Worker, Ogra Chorca 82. Martina O’Shea Social Care Worker – Pathways, Cork 83. Mary Crowley Focus Ireland 84. Mary Dalton Family Support Worker – HSE 85. Mary Jo Sheehy Cork Prison 86. Mary O’Shea Psychotherapist 87. Mary Whyte Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas – Volunteer 88. Mella Magee Community Development Worker, Cork City Partnership 89. Michael Collins Community Garda 90. Michael Shinnick St. Vincent’s Hostel, Cork 91. Michael O’Brien Addiction Counsellor, Merchant’s Quay

______Doing Time Outside - St Nicholas’ Trust - Conference, Cork 2011

92. Niamh Toland Family Support Group, Mountjoy Prison Visitors’ Centre 93. Nicora Donna Cambridge Dillon’s Cross Project 94. Nicola Whelan Mallow Community Drugs Initiative 95. Nicola Lucey Project Co ordinator, Garda Youth Diversion Project 96. Noreen O’Brien Community Advocacy Worker – HSE Cork East Travellers 97. Noel McCarthy Parents’ Support Group 98. Oonagh Maher Adult Guidance Counsellor, Cork Adult Guidance Service 99. Orla O’Shea Ballyphehane Action for Youth 100. Owen Murphy Carrigaline Youth Initiative 101. Pat McCarthy St Nicholas’ Trust 102. Pat Olden St Nicholas’ Trust 103. Paul O’Donovan Irish Prison Service 104. Perpetua Cahalane: Assistant Administrator, Solidarity Trust Fund 105. Robert Milliken Volunteer, Mountjoy Prison Visitors Centre 106. Robert Green Cloyne Diocesan Youth Services 107. Ronnie McCabe Manager – Prisoners Families Infoline 108. Sally Crowley Cork Institute of Technology 109. Sarah O’Gorman Project Leader, Barnardos Mahon 110. Sheila Connolly Cork Alliance – Manager 111. Sinead Wilson Co ordinator, Knocknaheeny/Hollyhill GYDP Justice Project 112. Sinead Sheehan Family Support Worker - HSE 113. Siobhan Mackey Youth Justice Worker Knocknaheeny/Hollyhill GYDP Justice Project 114. Stephanie Murphy Dillon’s Cross Project 115. Steven O’Donovan Cork Family Support Network 116. Teresa Daly Dillon’s Cross Project 117. Theresa Clarke Manager, Cloverhill Prison Visitors’ Centre 118. Theresa Hurley Dillon’s Cross Project 119. Timothy Farrell Probation Officer – Cork Prison 120. Tony O’Gorman Education – Irish Prison Service 121. Ursula Sheehan Administrator, Solidarity Fund, Mercy Order 122. Vickie Thompson St Nicholas’ Trust 123. Vicky Seaman Cork Alliance- Support Worker 124. Yvonne O’Riordan Social Care Worker – Pathways, Cork 125. Yvonne O’Toole Justice for Youth, Dublin Hill, Cork

______Doing Time Outside - St Nicholas’ Trust - Conference, Cork 2011