An Irish Prison Officer’s Story

Unlocked

The Number One Bestseller 
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For over thirty years, David McDonald worked in Ireland's biggest prisons. This is his story. 
 
As a young officer, McDonald got a baptism of fire in Mountjoy. In 1989 it was a chaotic, pungent and overcrowded place, and the approach to keeping order was primitive. 
 
Returning to his hometown two years later, he entered Portlaoise Prison, which - due to the presence of IRA and other subversive prisoners - was then the most secure prison in Europe. McDonald was amazed to discover the power of these subversives within the prison. Portlaoise, and later the new Midlands Prison, were also where Ireland's emerging class of serious gangsters were housed. McDonald dealt with notorious household names like John Gilligan, Christy Kinahan, Brian Meehan, Dessie O'Hare and, more recently, killers like Graham Dwyer, in his average working day. 
 
McDonald shares vivid accounts of the constant war of attrition between prisoners and prison authorities over the smuggling of contraband like drugs and phones. His work in a specialist security unit trying to stop this trafficking sometimes brought him into conflict with his bosses. He also questioned aspects of an often brutal and under-resourced system. Ultimately, concerns about poor handling of key issues led to him becoming a whistle-blower. 
 
In Unlocked, McDonald brilliantly describes the boredom, the constant tension and flashpoints of extreme violence, and the moments of comedy, tragedy and surprising humanity that are part and parcel of working in prisons. Written with the help of award-winning journalist and author, Mick Clifford, it is a jaw-dropping and authentic account of life in the toughest of workplaces. 
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'An extraordinary behind-the-scenes look at the hidden world of Irish prisoners . . . fascinating' Brendan O'Connor 
 
'Cracking' Matt Cooper

An extraordinary behind-the-scenes look at the hidden world of Irish prisoners . . . it's a fascinating book

Such a good read - it's amazing some of the stories

Illuminating . . . Every chapter contains a wealth of piquant facts and stories

Thought-provoking . . . this unsettling but important book does a fine job of holding [prisons] up to the light

Gripping and thought-provoking . . . takes us behind the prison walls and shows us the many sides of a complex world

David McDonald (Author) 
David McDonald is a retired prison officer from Portlaoise. He has worked in some of the largest prisons in Ireland including Mountjoy and Portlaoise. He was Assistant Chief Officer in the Midlands prison. Unlocked is his first book. 
 
Mick Clifford (Author) 
Michael 'Mick' Clifford is Special Correspondent for the Irish Examiner. He has worked in print and broadcast journalism for over twenty years. He is the author of three non-fiction books, including Bertie Ahern and the Drumcondra Mafia (with Shane Coleman), A Force for Justice: The Maurice McCabe Story, and two crime novels. In 2014, TV3's Tonight with Vincent Browne programme selected him as Journalist of the Year for his coverage of the garda whistle-blower story. He was named the newspaper industry's Journalist of the Year in 2016. He lives in Dublin.

For thirty years, David McDonald was a prison officer in some of Ireland's most notorious institutions. 
His baptism by fire was in Mountjoy in Dublin. A chaotic, pungent and overcrowded place, he experienced the primitive way in which order was kept, and spent over a year working with prisoners with AIDS who were treated in an appalling manner. 
 
Next he transferred to Europe's most secure facility: Portlaoise. Guarding IRA subversives, and high-profile gang members and violent offenders known as the 'heavies' - including John Gilligan, Christy Kinahan, Brian Meehan, Dessie O'Hare and Graham Dwyer - he had to be ready for anything. Tackling rioters and foiling inventive contraband schemes were all in a day's work. 
 
Promoted to Assistant Chief Officer in 2000 and transferred to the new Midlands Prison, he took charge of the protection wing where prisoners who are deemed to be at risk from other prisoners are housed. Yet the harshness of prison life and the myriad issues caused by drug addiction would leave him questioning what is often a brutal and inadequate system. Serious concerns about how some situations were handled led to McDonald becoming a thorn in the side of prison management. Ultimately his concerns led to him becoming a whistle-blower. Now, writing with award-winning journalist Mick Clifford, David describes in vivid detail the sheer power afforded to prison officers, and the vulnerability that comes with being outnumbered by inmates; the tension punctuated by extreme violence, and the human moments between inmates and officers. Unlocked is a jaw-dropping and authentic account of life in the toughest of workplaces.

Mick Clifford

Meticulously researched and clearly written chronicle of the nightmares endured by several families

A grim, unsettling and sometimes desperately sad book - but also an undeniably important one

Terrific and at the same time terrifying … superb

A True Story of Murder, Vigilante Justice and the Garda ‘Heavy Gang’

October 1971. Nineteen-year-old Una Lynskey vanishes near her home in Co. Meath. In the weeks that follow, and on flimsy grounds, gardaí identify three young local men as suspects. Within days of her body being found, one of the three is beaten to death by members of Una&rsquo;s family. 
 
The entire sequence of events is a tragedy in a quiet rural community - the wrong men jailed, no one ever facing justice - and becomes one of the most notorious failures in Irish policing and judicial history.In Who Killed Una Lynskey?, award-winning journalist Mick Clifford has built a compelling portrait of the case from interviews with the surviving main players, as well as exclusive access to the files of a private investigator who uncovered information the gardaí missed - or ignored. 
 
A timely, humane and compulsive read, this is a ground-breaking account of the botched investigation and its devastating consequences for not just four devastated families, but also the reputation of the gardaí.

Mick Clifford

Praise for Who Killed Una Lynskey?

Meticulously researched and clearly written chronicle of the nightmares endured by several families

A grim, unsettling and sometimes desperately sad book - but also an undeniably important one

A fantastic book

Meticulously researched and clearly written chronicle of the nightmares endured by several families

A grim, unsettling and sometimes desperately sad book - but also an undeniably important one

A fantastic book

Meticulously researched and clearly written chronicle of the nightmares endured by several families

A grim, unsettling and sometimes desperately sad book - but also an undeniably important one

A fantastic book

Books by Mick Clifford

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