A load of balls !

[orangeman]

Somebody would need a good kicking over this.

Irish prisoners get through 40,000 euros worth of footballs each year.

Razor wire security is to blame for the average 40,000 euros a year being spent on footballs for Irish prisoners.

The information was in government documents supplied to the Irish Examiner newspaper, under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Irish Prison Service has spent almost 130,000 euros replacing footballs for prisoners over the last three years.

Independent TD Denis Naughten called it "an astronomical sum".

He raised the issue in a parliamentary question last year, saying there were "serious questions to be asked".

Cloverhill, Cork and Limerick prisons are among the biggest football buyers.

Irish Justice Minister Alan Shatter said in July that a total of 35,851 euros had been spent on footballs in 2010 with Cloverhill Prison in west Dublin accounting for more than a third of the spend at 12,431 euros.

The FoI documents said there were five exercise yards in Cloverhill and the "position of razor wire leads to a couple of balls being destroyed in each yard per day".

A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service said that exercise was "incredibly important" for prisoners and that the footballs were for use by more than 4,000 prisoners using 60 prison yards across the Republic of Ireland.

"The costs seem high but there are a number of reasons for that," he said.

"The footballs are light to minimise potential injuries to staff and prisoners. This means they do tend to get destroyed.

"The bottom line is that we cannot put netting underneath the wire. Also netting a yard has significant cost implications.

"It costs about 175,000 euros and that is without support structures - the price could go up to 250,000 euros."

The spokesman said razor wire had to be in place around prison yards.

[orangeman]

The Limerick boys seem to be serial ball bursters - there's even a suggestion that inmates are bursting them deliberately cos they're not great quality and not to FIFA standards. Where else would it happen ?

AN extraordinary €10,000 was spent last year on footballs for the soccer-mad population of Limerick Prison, it has emerged.


The Irish Prison Service was unable to argue with an estimate that a spend of €10,339 could buy you 700 typical balls in a shop – or more than two footballs per prisoner, per year.

The Prison Service suggested that balls are regularly burst after being hoofed on to the razor wire strung above the walls of the outdoor exercise yard.

But there was no explanation as to why almost twice as much money was spent on footballs at Limerick Prison in 2011 as in Mountjoy, which has almost twice as many prisoners.

"We don't have a figure on how many balls were bought. It is the case that they play out in the yard where there are little soccer pitches marked out; they boot them up and they can get stuck on the razor wire. We do go through a lot of footballs," the spokesman said.

"If a football bursts, they are replaced. Whether they are going through more balls down there because they play more football in Limerick or they end up in the razor wire quicker, we'd have to look into it."

But one prison source said the number of balls bought could be even higher as those taking part in open-air kickabouts have to play with balls that don't meet FIFA competition requirements.

"They have proper footballs and basketballs for the indoor games in the gym but the balls they use out in the yard aren't the best. I don't think Ronaldo would be happy with them. They are the light plastic yellow balls you might see on the beach. You'd get them in a pound shop. You'd be embarrassed to bring one home to your kid," said the source, adding that some of the footballs might be being burst deliberately as prisoners are unhappy with the quality.



They showed that the spend on footballs at Limerick Prison was €5,854 in 2010 and jumped to €10,339 last year.

[orangeman]

€39.50 each -  buy 5 of them - there's a few € saved.


http://soccerreviews.com/news/one-world-futbol/

[johnneycool]

But one prison source said the number of balls bought could be even higher as those taking part in open-air kickabouts have to play with balls that don't meet FIFA competition requirements.

"They have proper footballs and basketballs for the indoor games in the gym but the balls they use out in the yard aren't the best. I don't think Ronaldo would be happy with them. They are the light plastic yellow balls you might see on the beach. You'd get them in a pound shop. You'd be embarrassed to bring one home to your kid," said the source, adding that some of the footballs might be being burst deliberately as prisoners are unhappy with the quality.

Considering that it was only a week or so ago that Robin Van Persie was almost killed when a EPL approved ball hit him on the back of the head, imagine what might happen in a prison yard if someone was 'taken out' with a proper football?

The prison authorities are right to just buy those beach ball type things that fly all over the place.

[Lar Naparka]

Oops! Sorry, wrong thread...
I looked in thinking this one was a reaction to the craic going on in the Gaza-related  thread between the baldy beaver and anyone who wants to take him on.