A team of Mountjoy inmates could soon be getting out of prison for the day to play a football match against their guards.
The hope is the lags versus prison officers Battle of the Joy showdown will be played in December at a high-profile GAA venue – and it will be streamed live so other inmates can see it. The idea for the match has been mooted by Justice Minister Helen McEntee, the General Director of the Irish Prison Service Caron Caffrey, and the Mountjoy Prison Governor Eddie Mullins to improve relations between inmates and prison staff.
It will be like the smash hit Hollywood movie The Longest Yard where prisoners played staff in an American football game. An email outlining the plan was circulated to prison officers days asking them to try and put a team together.
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Dublin football legend Philly McMahon works with groups of prisoners every week in Mountjoy improving their fitness, and helping them overcome their drug addiction. The eight-time All-Ireland winner also sometimes coaches them at football and they practise in the prison yard as they do not have a pitch.
The down-to-earth gym owner lost his own older brother John to drug addiction a decade ago and has been helping addicts ever since. He regularly gives Mountjoy prisoners what he calls “half-time team talks” to try and help them change their lives.
It is hoped Ballymun man McMahon will manage the prisoners team at a high-profile GAA venue. The prison officers themselves aren’t so sure about playing the match.
A source said: “We have a large number of prison officers who play Gaelic football. However, there are mixed feelings about it.
“Some feel we should be having a match against the victims of crime, not the prisoners, while others think it is a positive move and a bit of fun. Our union, the Prison Officers Association, have advised that it is up to individual prison officers to volunteer if they want to play the game.
“I suppose the worry is there could be some bad blood from certain prisoners towards the staff. You would not like to see that rearing its ugly head on the pitch.
“I suspect that what we would regard as high risk violent dangerous inmates would be prohibited from playing on the prisoners team. The management thinks the match is a great idea so I suspect it will go ahead. I know the prisoners have a great time and respect for Philly McMahon and the work he does.
“It would be a big boost for prisoners to actually play a game.”
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