Pubdate: Mon, 12 April 1999 Source: Examiner, The (Ireland) Copyright: Examiner Publications Ltd, 1999 Contact: http://www.examiner.ie/ AFTERCARE FOR FREED PRISONERS 'APPALLINGLY INADEQUATE' THE aftercare back-up and services for people coming out of prison after serving long sentences has been described by the Governor of Mountjoy as appallingly inadequate. John Lonergan, who has spent 31 years in the prison service and who has been Governor of Mountjoy since 1984, has claimed that most people left prison in a worse situation than when they entered because of the duration of the sentence which often resulted in the break up of a relationship, the loss of a job and accommodation. Addressing the seventh Annual Youth Parliament in Waterford he pulled no punches when he told 160 delegates from the Republic and Northern Ireland that there was a huge need to give people who had served their sentence of three, four or five years the right to change. "That means giving them free opportunity in a life-like job, education and accommodation in order to say to them, your behaviour might be wrong, I condemn your behaviour however I don't condemn you as a human being." People, he said, should not be self-righteous and foolishly believe that they would never end up in prison, when it was a fact that anybody over the age of 17 could be jailed as a result of a single piece of bad luck. In a clear reference to the current controversy surrounding the Philip Sheedy case he said "that man was never in prison before and was probably never in court before. A small bit of bad judgement or mis-judgement like driving while drunk can turn your life upside down," he said. In an attack on an intolerant society few if any allowances were made, he said, for the circumstances of a person's birth or upbringing. Hundreds of babies were born to heroin addicts in affluent Ireland every year. As these children began to grow into teenagers they became, in the eyes of the self-righteous, the scum, the low lifes who were ostracised without making allowances for the circumstances of their birth and the lack of opportunity. Referring to a recent survey of fifth and sixth year pupils in the Ballyfermot/Chapolozid area of Dublin the four major issues associated with people of those areas were alcohol, drugs, crime and teenage pregnancy. Also 73% of the respondants believed they would not get a job after leaving school because of their address. "This should be of concern to everybody whether in Government, local authorities, education or in local communities," he said.Attacking what he described as our two-tier education system Mr Lonergan said that money influenced how well young people fared in education. Those who could afford grinds and private institutions had the power and the choice and would get fairer opportunities. On the other hand children born to drug addicts or to the socially excluded are unlikely to grow into educated and motivated human beings. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake