BREAKING: Tipperary man held for five years in isolation as Dáil hears new calls for action

A Roscrea man who survived a fatal road crash as a teenager has now spent almost five years in uninterrupted seclusion in prison and secure psychiatric facilities, a situation that has been repeatedly raised in the Dáil by Tipperary TD Alan Kelly.

The case of Stephen Loughnane, 28, was again highlighted this week by Deputy Kelly ahead of the broadcast of RTÉ Investigates’ documentary The Psychiatric Care Scandal, which examines shortcomings in Ireland’s secure mental health system.

Deputy Kelly told the Dáil that he had spoken to Mr Loughnane’s mother, Jacinta Graham, earlier that day and said her son has been held in continuous 24-hour seclusion since 2021 due to the absence of a suitable residential placement.

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“He is in uninterrupted 24-hour seclusion,” Deputy Kelly said, as he asked what action the Government has taken to address the lack of appropriate residential and secure mental health facilities for people in similar circumstances.

The Tipperary TD first raised Mr Loughnane’s case in 2021, quoting former Tipperary judge Elizabeth McGrath in describing the shortage of secure mental health places as a “scandal”.

At that time, he told the Dáil that Mr Loughnane had spent four and a half months in prison because the State was unable to secure a place for him in a suitable mental health unit, as neither the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum nor other appropriate facilities could take him.

Deputy Kelly also said there was widespread concern locally about the lack of appropriate placement options.
“People are worried about this young man because of his situation, what he might do to himself or potentially to other people,” he said. “This is a real and serious issue. We do not have enough secure places.”

Originally from Roscrea, Mr Loughnane suffered a brain injury at the age of 16 when he was the surviving passenger in a fatal car crash. The injury led to significant psychiatric symptoms, including psychosis, hallucinations and violent outbursts.
Following an incident in 2021 in which he attacked his mother, he was remanded to Limerick Prison. According to RTÉ Investigates, he was placed in continuous seclusion there before being transferred to the old Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum and later to the new Central Mental Hospital in Portrane in November 2022. He has remained in uninterrupted seclusion across all three settings.

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Speaking to RTÉ, his mother described the conditions under which she visits her son.

“It’s like going to visit Hannibal Lecter in the movie Silence of the Lambs, behind a screen with the glass and talking through a speaker. That’s the only way I can describe it. And absolutely nothing in the room,” she said.
“It’s heartbreaking to think of him like it. Absolutely dreadful.”

Seclusion is a strictly regulated practice intended to prevent a person who poses a threat to themselves or others from leaving a room. In the Central Mental Hospital, it involves confinement in a sparsely furnished room with controlled access to an outdoor area and limited interaction with staff.

The RTÉ investigation reported that Mr Loughnane’s initial detention in prison while awaiting transfer to hospital exposed what legal experts described as a serious gap in oversight, as prisons fall outside the remit of the Mental Health Commission.
The programme also highlighted wider capacity issues within the system. It reported that 50 beds at the new Central Mental Hospital remain unused more than three years after it opened, while dozens of people are on a waiting list and remain in prison settings.

In a statement to RTÉ Investigates, the HSE said it would not comment on individual cases but said the use of restrictive practices in Irish mental health centres has fallen to a record low following the introduction of new human rights based rules. However, figures cited in the programme show that the use of seclusion in Portrane has increased in the past year.

For Deputy Kelly and Mr Loughnane’s family, however, the issue remains immediate and personal. The Roscrea man’s case continues to be cited in the Dáil as an example of what critics argue is a failure to provide appropriate secure and residential mental health placements, both for vulnerable patients and for the communities to which they belong.