Today, in what will be the conclusion of a shameful period for the Isle of Man, the new purpose built prison at Jurby will open.

The new facility replaces the crumbling Victorian prison in Douglas, the Islands Capital, a building which was overcrowded, in a shocking state of repair and which had been repeatedly condemned by both British and International prison inspection bodies.

The Prison was frequently at the forefront of controversy, not least when in the face of good practice, humanity and decency it was used (in the early 1990s) to house young child offenders and also some years later when several suicides of inmates occurred

The Celtic League has been at the forefront of calls for the old prison to be decommissioned and we have frequently expressed our concerns about conditions there - conditions it should be noted that had to be endured not only by those imprisoned but also by the staff charged with effecting their safe custody and rehabilitation. We presented evidence to the European Committee on the Prevention of Torture (CPT) several times and also via the MCCL contributed to the enquiry into several prison deaths at the establishment during the 1990s

The Isle of Man has now hopefully turned a corner in relation to the housing and rehabilitation of offenders. Modern conditions for prisoners and decent conditions for prison staff should augur well for successful penal rehabilitation.

However, old habits die hard and even before the new prison opened several ill-informed concerns were raised (both politically and publicly) about facilities which allegedly were to be provided for prisoners. These concerns were structured in such a way as to allude to the dangers of having 'too soft' an environment at the new prison.

It is quite worrying that on an Island which now projects itself globally as a democratic and modern centre of finance we have attitudes surfacing that are a throw-back to the days when the Island was portrayed as one of the last places in Europe to retain birching and hanging on its statute books, a place which held human rights in contempt and denied its citizens the right to petition under the European Convention of Human Rights.

The Island has hopefully put all that behind it and despite any political luddites or pundits of ill-will who wish to snipe at the opportunities the new prison offers it should be seen for what it is - a great opportunity to put rehabilitation and not punishment at the top of the penal agenda.

Many related articles on Celtic News the two most recent here:

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J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League

23/04/08