Tipperary man John Lonergan honoured with Irish Red Cross humanitarian award

“The Governor” John Lonergan was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Irish Red Cross Humanitarian Awards Ball in Dublin on Saturday night in recognition of his contribution to Irish society through his work in prisons which spans four decades.

When Bansha man John Lonergan walked into his first day of work in Limerick on March 8, 1968, he couldn’t have known he was embarking on a 42-year-long career in the Irish Prison Service.

After three years in Limerick, John moved to Shanganagh Castle in Dublin and following this, John worked in a number of prisons and institutions including Loughan House in Co Cavan when it accommodated teenagers aged 12-18.

In 1984, John was appointed Governor of Mountjoy Prison and four years after that, in 1988, he was transferred to the high-security prison in Portlaoise to deal with the complexities arising there from the incarceration of people involved in the Troubles. John served as Governor of Portlaoise Prison until 1992 when he moved back to Mountjoy, where he again served as Governor until he retired in 2010.

In the words of Irish Red Cross Chairman Pat Carey, “John Lonergan brought humanity into the prison system and had a profound effect on Irish society in terms of its understanding of who was in prison - and why.”

John was one of the first people to draw the public’s attention to the origins of crime in Ireland, and the connection between criminality and the social, economic and educational circumstances of prisoners and their families: this was a wake-up call for Irish society and Government. While Governor of Mountjoy, John’s analysis revealed that 75% of Dublin-born prisoners were from six small communities in Dublin city.

John was avant-garde in his rehabilitative approach to managing prisons. He recognised the importance which mental health and having hope for a better future played in prison life and he set about making the regime more humanitarian for those in prison by enhancing and promoting opportunities for education, training and building self esteem.

John opened up Mountjoy to facilitate contact with the outside world, through career development, football, music and theatre. This enabled outside groups begin their development work in Irish prisons which has continued to this day. One of these was the Irish Red Cross, which in 2009 began its work within prisons by assisting in the development of health, first aid and non-violence programmes which are now in all Irish prisons.

These have enabled prisoners take control of their own lives, and have helped transform the environment of Irish prisons for staff and prisoners.

John paved the way for many changes in the prison service, and was instrumental in lobbying for the development of a new women’s prison, the Dóchas Centre. He also oversaw the development of a prisoner visitor centre at Mountjoy which was later replicated across the country.

“We are recognising John Lonergan with the Lifetime Achievement Award for the stand he took, and the noise he made to make the everyday lives of people in prison more bearable” said Pat Carey. “John saw the opportunity to help others in a real, practical and meaningful way and he made it his mission to overcome whatever obstacles stood in his way. He did something not because it was popular, but because it the right thing to do and this, surely, summarises the true spirit of humanitarianism.”

Gena Heraty was named Irish Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year while the Donal Walsh #LiveLife Foundation was named winner in the Young Humanitarian category. Sally Hayden won the Journalism Excellence Award, Austin Campbell (My Streets Ireland) was presented with the Innovation for Change Award while Aldi won the Corporate Impact Award.