Prisons’ Minister Paul Goggins experienced life on the inside today when he visited Hydebank Wood which caters for both young male offenders and Northern Ireland’s female prisoners.

The Minister said that the visit had been especially useful to allow him to understand the complexities of detaining young people and appreciation of the different needs of female prisoners, which the Northern Ireland Prison Service professionally deals with on a daily basis.

Speaking after his visit to Hydebank, Minister Goggins, said:

“Hydebank provides accommodation for some of the most disadvantaged and susceptible individuals in society. The particular needs of the inmates are of paramount importance to staff. The primary function of the Prison Service is to provide a disciplined yet stimulating regime for the prisoners with the view to nurturing their educational abilities and social skills so that they are less likely to re-offend once they are released.

“By securing prisoners’ human rights, treating them with respect and dignity and working with them as individuals to become better people, who uphold the law, the Prison Service is striving to reduce the number of future victims in society.”

The Minister took the opportunity to highlight the success that Hydebank Prison has enjoyed in building better relationships between staff, prisoners and their families via the many innovative steps implemented by staff to improve the quality of life for prisoners.

The Minister added: “One of the Prison Service’s core values is to encourage positive change in the lives of inmates and to be successful in resettling offenders back into the community with the view to them not returning to jail. By cultivating skills, offering constructive and varied activities, delivering an excellent service and presenting well thought out resettlement programmes, the Prison Service helps reduce the likelihood of prisoners re-offending and being back behind bars. ”


Notes to Editors:

1. As of today there are 253 inmates at Hydebank Wood Young Offenders Centre and Prison, of which 50 are female prisoners

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