ICPO offers help for Irish citizens
imprisoned overseas
Dear Editor:
Dia Dhit. As an article in the February edition of your paper, The Celtic Connection observed, Canada is the new draw for young people.
The great majority of young Irish people coming to Canada will be law abiding and productive members of society but sadly a few will break the law.
In that context, I would like to tell you a bit about our work. Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas (ICPO) was established by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference in 1985 in response to concerns over the treatment of Irish people in British prisons.
Since that time, we have expanded our services to Irish prisoners in the UK, Europe, the United States and Canada and the rest of the world. We make no distinction on the basis of religious faith, the nature of the conviction, or the prisoners’ status.
We are funded for our work by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. We have offices in Maynooth, County Kildare and in London. The Maynooth office is responsible for services to non-UK prisoners.
In addition to advocacy and policy work on issues like deportation, repatriation and transfer, ICPO provides practical support to Irish citizens imprisoned outside of Ireland and their families. We also visit Irish prisoners when possible both in the UK and the rest of the world.
I have worked with Paula Molloy of the Irish Embassy in Ottawa on several cases and she has graciously provided me with a list of various Irish organizations in Canada. Based on the surge of applications for visas to go to Canada, I wanted to make your readers aware of the ICPO and our work.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me at (011) 353-1-505-3015, or e-mail me at: kate.jackson@iecon.ie. Our website is: www.catholicbishops.ie/prisoners-overseas.
Cordially,
Catherine Jackson
Columbia Centre
Maynooth, Co. Kildare
Ireland
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