Not “proper” foreign national prisoners: Irish ex-prisoner reflections on imprisonment in England and Wales

Irish prisoners are one of the oldest minority groups and one of the most represented foreign national groups in the prison system, yet little is known about their experiences of imprisonment in England and Wales. This article presents findings from 29 semi-structured interviews with Irish ex-prisoners who were asked to reflect on their time in prison in England and Wales. It utilises Ugelvik and Damsa’s findings on foreign national prisoner experiences in Norway as related to discrimination, long-distance relationships, and deportability as a point of analysis. This paper shows that Irish prisoners suffer the pains of discrimination through racism, bullying, and discrimination from prisoners and prison officers, and there are concerns over mistreatment by prison officers who are ex-military. There are also difficulties associated with family contact. As Irish prisoners are not subject to deportation, except in the most exceptional circumstances, and since there is no language barrier, this paper suggests that Irish prisoners might not seen as “proper” foreign nationals in the prison system. This may result in Irish prisoners being somewhat invisible in the prison system in England and Wales and in some cases having their nationality and national identity denied.