The Irish Council for Prisoner Overseas (ICPO) was established in 1985 as a specialised response to the needs of the Irish prisoner abroad.
The ICPO aims to fulfil its mission by providing a comprehensive service to Irish prisoners and their families. This is done by:
Identifying and responding to the needs of Irish prisoners abroad, and their families.
Visiting prisoners and assisting families with travel and accommodation.
Researching and providing relevant information to prisoners and their families including on issues such as deportation, repatriation and prison transfers.
Representing prisoners’ interests to the appropriate authorities (including embassies, welfare agencies, social welfare departments, probation, legal officers, etc.).
Networking with prison-based agencies, as well as other groups and organisations concerned with prisoners' welfare.
Focusing public attention on issues affecting Irish prisoners.
Engaging in practical work in aid of justice and human rights for Irish prisoners overseas.
ICPO London has responsibility for providing these services across the UK. Irish prisoners constitute the third largest ethnic population of prisoners in England and Wales.
The ICPO forms part of the Irish Chaplaincy in Britain, which works under the auspices of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Our sister organisation in Maynooth, Ireland, provides support for prisoners in the rest of the world and their families in Ireland.
Celebrating our 25th Anniversary
“Over the past 25 years, as many people turned away from prisoners and washed their hands of them, it was your (ICPO) unexpected and reliable hand of friendship which let them know that they had an innate dignity that no system could overwhelm and no act of their own could obliterate”.
(President Mary McAleese, at the ICPO’s 25th anniversary Conference, Dublin, 9th November 2010).
