Shatter needs to act after yet another Loughan House incident

"It is clear that the Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has failed to secure Irish prisons after three prisoners escaped from Loughan House prison in County Cavan for a number of hours last night," according to Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Dara Calleary. "This is extremely embarrassing for the Government. In March, convicted garda killer Martin McDermott escaped from Loughan House for a second time. Less than a month ago in response to that incident, Minister Shatter assured the public that measures had been put in place to secure this facility so that this type of incident would not happen again. "It is time for Minister Shatter to take charge of this. I am calling for a full explanation from the Minister in the Dáil as a matter of urgency." Deputy Calleary's party colleague Brendan Smith TD told The Anglo-Celt that while open prisons are needed as part of rehabiliting prisoners reentering society, he urged Minister Shatter to introduce new, more stringent measures to ensure all prisoners served the duration of their sentences. Tuesday night's three-prisoner 'break-out' from Loughan House, follows that of the much publised convicted cop-killer Martin McDermott in March. Twenty-six-year-old McDermott from Raphoe, Donegal who has 91 previous convictions simply walked-out of the Loughan House. He was months into serving a seven-year stretch handed down in 2011 for the manslaughter of 24-year-old Leitrim-born Garda Gary McLoughlin in Donegal. However, as was reported previously in The Anglo-Celt, McDermott had previously escaped from the Blacklion-based open-prison back in November 2007 for a previous conviction.