ON WEDNESDAY, ALISON Chawke was released from prison after serving less than a twelfth of her custodial sentence for her part in a violent assault on two men.

Alison and her brother Bill Chawke, the daughter and son of prominent publican Charlie Chawke, were jailed in July for assaulting the two men at a luxury Limerick hotel in November 2023.

The court heard the siblings had brought “embarrassment” on their family with their violent actions, which they carried out while intoxicated. Alison had bitten one of the victims on the cheek during the attack and kicked him in the head.

The judge sentenced her to two years and two months, with 14 months of this suspended.

Although the siblings appeared shocked at their respective sentences – Alison mimed to a supporter in court, “Am I going to jail?” – her own defence solicitor acknowledged on her behalf: “You make your bed, and you must lie in it.”

But after less than a month, 41-year-old Alison Chawke was released from the female wing of Limerick Prison under the community return scheme.

The scheme involves prisoners being released from custody, but carrying out unpaid community service work. Prisoners must be deemed to be no threat to the community to be eligible for the scheme.

Alison Chawke will remain under supervision by the Probation Service for the remainder of her sentence.

For custodial sentences of 12 to 18 months, eligibility to apply is from committal – meaning there is no waiting period before an application can be made. This follows changes to the system in 2023, prompted in part by chronic overcrowding in prisons.

The female wing of Limerick Prison, where Alison Chawke was in custody, is operating at 152% capacity, according to figures released by the Irish Prison System today.

There is capacity for 56 beds in this wing and there are 85 in custody today.

Thirty-six prisoners are on a form of temporary release – including Chawke – up from 33 in July.

Alison Chawke’s early release has prompted much criticism. Sinn Féin’s justice spokesperson Matt Carthy said he believes a number of serious questions need to be asked about this release, and that it highlights the major issues with Irish prison capacity.

“We have a prison system that’s not doing its job,” he said. 

Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon, however, said he doesn’t believe prison is the right place for a woman who has children, and said he believes her early release is “appropriate”.

Alison’s position as a well-connected and wealthy woman has prompted further questions from the public as to the reasoning behind her early release. 

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But she’s not the only female inmate to walk out the doors under the community return scheme: 98 prisoners across the Irish prison system are out under the scheme today.

Thirty-six women sentenced to custodial sentences in her wing are out on a form of temporary release. The other female prison unit, the Dóchas Centre at Mountjoy Prison, has 194 female prisoners in custody – and another 89 female prisoners are on temporary release.

Another 127 are out under the community support scheme, which is designed for prisoners who are serving sentences under 18 months and aims to support prisoners’ resettlement.

Across all forms of temporary release, 560 prisoners are not in custody. This is down from 593 in July.

Today, a total of 6,322 people are in the prison system. Of these, 5,581 are in custody. 

Her brother Bill remains in custody at Limerick Prison.

He was sentenced to two years and six months, with the final 12 months suspended. The length of his sentence means he is also eligible to apply for temporary release under the same scheme as his sister.

If he fulfils the length of this sentence, he will remain in prison for a year and a half.