THE PRODUCTION OF a three-part Virgin Media TV documentary series, ‘Women Locked Up’, on life behind bars at the women’s Dóchas centre prompted letters of concern to the Minister for Justice and the Irish Prison Service (IPS) from the Dóchas Centre Visiting Committee.

This is revealed in the recently published 2024 annual report by the Dóchas Visiting Committee which stated that the in-mates’ best interests “are not well served by featuring in a television documentary, even if it provides positive PR for the Irish Prison Service”.

The report states that subsequent to the show airing, “women expressed concern that it portrayed an unrealistic picture that didn’t show the difficulties in accessing supports and services, particularly mental health, psychology and addiction services”.

The report added that “they felt it also didn’t portray the challenges of being in prison that women experience”.

At the time, the series – produced by Midas Productions – earned positive TV reviews and earlier this month won a Shine Mental Health Media Award 2025 in the Mental Health Series category.

However the 2024 visiting committee report – which again highlighted ongoing problem of over-crowding at the prison and draws on knowledge from 71 visits to the prison during 2024 – stated that on the making of the documentary in 2023/24 “we had a concern about the appropriateness and fairness of filming the women since the outset of this process”.

They stated: “It is our view that informed consent cannot be truly given by women who are incarcerated.”

The report states: ““They may feel that refusal to consent to filming will “go against them” in other matters and they may not fully appreciate the impact of their appearance in the production on their family members or indeed on their future prospects. With a television programme that must, necessarily, attract viewership to earn income for the broadcaster, there is a high risk of the women being exploited to serve voyeuristic purposes.”

They add that “our concerns were heightened when we learned that the working title of “A Prison called Hope”, which had won the funding to make this programme, was changed to “Women Locked Up”. There is a wide chasm between the tone of these two titles and we feel the title it aired under invites much more judgement on the women featured than the working title.”

The visiting committee stated that it expressed its concerns to the then Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee and the Irish Prison Service (IPS) in advance of the airing of the documentary.

In a response letter, the Minister for Justice replied to state that “Minister McEntee takes any issues raised by the Visiting Committee very seriously, and asked Department of Justice officials to engage with the Irish Prison Service regarding the concerns highlighted in your letter”.

The letter from the Minister stated that “on foot of that engagement, our colleagues in the IPS have assured the Department that the processes and procedures around selecting and engaging with individuals for the series was carefully managed throughout the project”.

It added: “Regular engagement between Midas, Dóchas management and the IPS’ Operations Directorate occurred to ensure that suitable individuals were chosen for interview, and that both they and their family members fully understood the project”.

“The selected individuals also signed consent forms knowing that at any stage they could revoke them. Indeed, during and subsequent to the filming, some individuals did revoke their consent and the necessary edits were then made to the footage to keep them anonymous.”

The letter continued: “ After the editing process was completed, a special viewing was arranged by Midas for IPS officials and the Dóchas Management Team, and the overall feedback was extremely positive. I would note that the Irish Prison Service has always sought to use print and broadcast media to promote the work of the service, and to help build empathy and understanding for those accommodated in our prisons.

It added that “the IPS has highlighted that Midas Production is an award-winning production company which has successfully delivered several prison documentaries in recent years such as ‘The Joy’ and ‘Life on the Inside’.

“Importantly, they have previously produced a documentary in the Dóchas called ‘Women on the Inside’. The Producer and director both have extensive experience in dealing with vulnerable people, and the IPS has informed us that they have shown the highest level of professionalism by keeping in contact with some of the featured women after their release to update them on how the project is going and when it will air.

The letter concluded: “We have also been advised by the IPS to call the series ‘Women Locked Up’ was an editorial one based in the first instance around reaching the widest possible audience with what it believes is an important and valuable piece of television.”