MINISTER FOR JUSTICE Helen McEntee has said it is important that lessons are learned after the death of an inmate in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin.

Robert O’Connor (34) of Snowdrop Walk, Darndale, Dublin 17 was attacked by a group of other prisoners in Mountjoy last Friday, just days after he was sentenced for firearms offences.

He was placed on life support in the Mater hospital but died yesterday morning.

Speaking to reporters today, Minister McEntee said that deaths in prisons are rare in Ireland, but “any type of death of this kind is simply not acceptable for any of us.”

“It’s a very tragic situation and I just want to start by offering my condolences to his family,” she said. “I think with any type of incident of this kind and of this severity, we have to make sure that any lessons are learned and anything that we can take from this act to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.

“Obviously no situation is without risk, but every effort is made and every protocol is put in place within our prisons to prevent this from happening.”

O’Connor was serving a sentence for possession of a semi-automatic pistol in Finglas on 13 October, 2021. His previous convictions included drugs offences, stealing cars, criminal damage, theft and road traffic offences.

Sources have said that O’Connor was assaulted in his cell by at least four prisoners.

An investigation has been launched.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris told reporters today that the investigation will be “very thorough” and will include the examination of CCTV systems, physical evidence and information from the Irish Prison Service.

There will also be a detailed forensic examination of the cell where he was attacked. 

“On a day-to-day basis, there’s an exchange of information on intelligence between ourselves and prison service.”

He said the matter was primarily the responsibility of the Prison Service, but that the Gardaí would continue to assist them to prevent a similar incident from happening.

It is understood that at least two prison officers were on the prison landing when the incident happened and immediately attempted to intervene.

A number of theories on motive are being examined by gardaí, including one theory that it was a revenge attack ordered from outside the prison.

One source said that O’Connor had fallen out with a number of criminals for various incidents and each of those incidents would be examined as part of the investigation.

Additional reporting by Niall O’Connor and Orla Dwyer