Cork Prison's pop-up restaurant offers inmates 'a second chance'

Tables of four are nestled in a small circular area, arranged carefully and precisely. Blue napkins are precisely placed in each glass, while decorative menus have been placed on the pristine tables.The menu bears the restaurant’s name, The Open Door, accompanied by the slogan: “Unlocking potential.”A key is built into the e of “menu”, and this — combined with the slogan and the almost-constant background rattle of keys and doors — is the only hint that this restaurant is located in the B2 circle of Cork Prison. The Open Door pop-up restaurant is a collaboration between the Irish Prison Service; the Department of Tourism and Hospitality at Munster Technological University, and the Irish Association for Social Inclusion Opportunities (IASIO).The extensive menu has been prepared by six inmates who have undertaken an eight-week practical culinary skills programme, while four serving staff for the pop-up event were from MTU’s hospitality management students.Chef JJ Healy, who led the programme, is busy and excited as the minutes whizz by on a Tuesday afternoon, getting closer to the opening time for the restaurant — which is a once-a-year event. Among the 50-plus guests scheduled to attend the restaurant are figures from the hospitality trade, and it is hoped that some or all of the six inmates who prepared the meal will be lucky enough to be offered employment from those who attended.JJ Healy says that not all inmates who are offered jobs through the programme stay in the hospitality sector.This has happened in previous years, and JJ says that not all those who did the course and were offered jobs were confined to the hospitality industry. He said: “Some people went on to do other things, not just cheffing. It is a confidence-building thing as well.“Some of them need a bit of confidence, and might go and do a course they thought they weren’t able to do before. One guy from a couple of years ago is doing sociology somewhere.”He said that the inmates he works with on the course know they “have done something wrong”. However, he said: “They are trying to do something different now, a second chance.” He said that an inmate once said to him that prisoners “start a sentence when they leave” prison, because of having to contend with bias against them in areas such as the job market. When people do their time, they should be given credit for that Among the hopeful six yesterday was an inmate called Glen, who had previously worked in kitchens before being committed to prison.He says he really likes cooking, as “it takes me away from everything that is going on around — I find it therapeutic”.He is one of the six inmates who were lucky enough to secure a place on the course after 18 applied.There are currently 14 inmates working in the prison’s kitchen, while a further seven work in the staff mess — including Glen.Level of interest Assistant chief officer Sarah Hartnett says that among the considerations for picking inmates for working in the kitchen is their level of interest in cooking, as well as the length of their sentence.She said that 1,200 meals a day are prepared in the prison kitchen every day for the inmates and staff.Although the prison has bed capacity for 296 inmates, there are typically more than 300 in its bowels on any given day. Last Tuesday, when the Irish Examiner visited, this number stood at 349 — meaning that the nine-year-old complex was operating at 118% capacity.The hours put in by the six chefs in the kitchen culminated in a five-course meal — featuring a starter of potato rosti, goat’s cheese, tomato salsa, chili relish, green vinaigrette, and crispy vegetables.This was followed by French onion soup with cheese en croute, before two main course options were served. One was a carbonnade of beef, while the other was oven-roasted celeriac — both were served with smoked champ, roast carrot, and parsnip purée.The dessert was a classic baked Alaska, followed by tea or coffee served with ginger and chocolate chip cookies. Canapés included tortillas, aubergine en croute, cauliflower wings, and corned beef, while a drinks reception took place before the meal with non-alcoholic beverages only.As the preparations were underway, the rest of prison life carried on as normal. None of the inmates were able to avail of the special meal worked on by Glen and his five colleagues.Instead, inmates ate in their cells while their six fellow inmates prepared for the arrival of guests.Prisoners were active in the prison school, while others were seen casually chatting with fellow inmates and sharing banter.Inmates ate in their cells while their six fellow inmates prepared for the arrival of guests.Two older inmates stopped in a circular area on their way back to their cells to take a look at an exhibition of craft work carried out by prisoners in prisons across the country — which were brought to Cork especially for the pop-up restaurant event.A year ago, during a session of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee, Ms McCaffrey acknowledged that engaging in education and work training can reduce the risk of prisoners reoffending on release. However, she admitted that resources for prison schools were under pressure.In Cork Prison’s woodwork workshop, the talents and skills nurtured there were to be seen in intricate items which had been worked on by inmates.Deputy governor Brian McCarthy said that among the items which were brought for display for restaurant guests yesterday were pieces of stonework made from demolished walls from Portlaoise Prison.The stonework was put on display to show the talents of some of those behind locked doors in Ireland’s prisons. People do not see what happens behind walls in prisons, the education people get or the skills people have Among the items to be seen in one area of the prison were pieces of ceramic work — including a large vase with writing on it. On closer inspection, it featured a paragraph relating to the infamous riot in the prison on Spike Island on August 31, 1985.Thousands of hours went into the event, between the inmates, staff of the university, representatives of Irish Association for Social Inclusion Opportunities, and personnel at Cork Prison. The association’s operations manager, Jacob Harmon, said the organisation sees itself as a “bridge between prison and communities”.He said that the social inclusion aspect of a person’s sentence is the area of responsibility for the organisation, ensuring that prisoners have “the same opportunities as the rest of us” when they have served their sentence.

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