Irish prisons are currently so overcrowded that roughly 50 inmates have been sleeping on the floor this week. 

Four prisons have exceeded their capacity and the Prison Officers Association is worried it will increase the risk of violence. 

“[They’re sleeping on] literally just a mattress on the floor with bed linen,” Prison Officers Association General Secretary Karl Dalton told Newstalk. 

“It’s been happening constantly and is going to be the future as far as we can see when you watch numbers and you look at the daily figures going up and up. 

“We know what’s happening in the courts [and] with no sign of any new accommodation it’s just unacceptable. 

“Staff have to deal with the fall out of that, you know?

“Nobody’s going to like sleeping on the floor and then eventually you’re going to get to the situation where you’re putting prisoners in cells with prisoners that don’t want them on the floor either. 

“So again, history has shown this just leads to violence within our prisons.” 

Ireland’s population is at the highest level since independence and there are 550 more prisoners than there were a year ago.

Main image: Police officers put handcuffs on a man. Image: Bernd von Jutrczenka/DPA/PA Images