Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas (ICPO)
Columba Centre,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare
Ireland.
Tel.  00 353 1 5053156
Fax: 00 353 1 6016401
E Mail:  icpo@iecon.ie
Web:  www.catholicbishops.ie/prisoners-overseas

STAFF:
Maynooth:  Brian Hanley (Coordinator),
Sr Anne Sheehy, (Prisoner and Family Support Worker),
Catherine Jackson (Case worker)
Sr. Agnes Hunt, Eileen Boyle, Joan Ó Cléirigh (Volunteers).

I

Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas
LONDON: HEAD OFFICE
50-52 Camden Square                         
London NW1 9XB
Tel: 00 44 20 74 82 41 48
Fax: 0044 20 74824815
Email: conor.mcginn@irishchaplaincy.org.uk

STAFF:
London:
Conor McGinn (Manager),
Gabriel Payne (Outreach\Caseworker),
Breda Power (Caseworker)
Liz Power (Office Admin.)

Volunteer prison visitors: Sr. Maureen McNally, Sr. Cecilia Snape and Rev. Stephen McKenna. In addition, the London office has access to a strong and committed group of experts in the field of law, social work, immigration, probation, as well as people with campaigning and other skills, which greatly enhances the work of the office.  There is also a need for the deployment of one or more additional volunteer prison visitors to cover other regions of the country.

There are more than 1,200 Irish people in prisons throughout the world.  The ICPO has contact with Irish people in prisons in more than twenty countries, stretching from the English speaking world of the UK, the USA and Australia, to countries such as France, Thailand, Argentina, Egypt and Cuba.

In 1985 the bishops saw that the problems of emigrants who get into trouble with the law require specialised attention.  They decided to set up, as a sub-section of their Emigrants’ Commission, the Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas (ICPO).

The ICPO works for all Irish prisoners wherever they are, and it make no distinction in terms of religious faith, the nature of the prison conviction, or of a prisoner’s status.

The objectives of the ICPO are to:
Identify and respond to the needs of Irish prisoners abroad, and their families.
Research and provide relevant information to prisoners on issues such as deportation, repatriation and transfer.
Focus public attention on issues affecting Irish prisoners (ill-treatment, racist abuse, etc)
Engage in practical work in aid of justice and human rights for Irish migrants, refugees and prisoners at an international level.