asked the Minister for Justice whether he will state why Mrs. Donnelly, 10 Belgrave Road, Rathmines, has been refused permission to visit her husband, James Donnelly, a political prisoner in Mountjoy Prison.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - PERMISSION TO VISIT POLITICAL PRISONER.
Convicted prisoners can earn the privilege of visits by good conduct and industry while undergoing their sentences. Prisoner James Donnelly had become eligible for a visit in the beginning of May and his wife visited him on the 7th of that month. Later he refused to work, although warned that by such a course he would forfeit the privilege of further visits. He has persisted in his refusal to work, consequently he is not permitted to receive visitors.
Does the Minister not think that, in view of the admittedly special circumstances of this case, the prison regulations should be relaxed, and that Donnelly should be allowed to receive a visit from his wife?
I cannot see why Mr. Donnelly cannot obey the prison regulations like everybody else.
Might I ask the Minister why the charge of escaping from Mountjoy is withdrawn in some cases and persisted in in others? This man has been in prison for having escaped from Mountjoy. How is it that there has been a discrimination with regard to prisoners in this matter?
It depends on the circumstances of each case.
Mr. BOLAND
I suggest that the circumstances were quite the same in all cases. All these people were supposed to have escaped on the one day. Prosecutions have been dropped in some cases and persisted in in others. This man is undergoing a sentence of nine months for having attempted to escape from Mountjoy. I would like the Minister to explain that if he can.
He cannot.