The family of a psychiatric patient who died in Cloverhill Prison more than five years ago have called for the immediate release of a report into the circumstances of his death.
A report by the Officer of the Inspector of Prisons was completed 18 months ago but has remained on the desk of successive justice ministers ever since.
Ivan Rosney, a 36-year-old father-of-four, died in Cloverhill Prison on 28 September 2020 while being restrained by prison officers. He was being taken from his cell to attend a District Court hearing by video link and had only been in prison a matter of days.
Mr Rosney, who suffered from schizophrenia, was in prison on remand after he was arrested during an episode outside his house while he was in the midst of a mental health crisis.
His family have not been told the full circumstances that led to his death or the conditions under which he was kept during his time in Cloverhill.
His daughter, Courtney Rosney, has said they deserve to know why hospital was not considered a more appropriate environment for him and the chain of events that brought about his death.
"We were told at the start there were about five or six prison officers restraining Dad... We haven't been told what exactly went on or why he wasn't brought to Portlaoise [Hospital]," she said.
RTÉ Investigates has established that a Death in Custody investigation report was sent to the then Justice Minister Helen McEntee in October 2024 but was not published by either herself or her successor, Minister Jim O’Callaghan.
When RTÉ Investigates sought the release of the report under the Freedom of Information Act the Department of Justice refused to on the basis that, "considerations on the possibility of the redaction of certain details" are "under way" and "legal advice is awaited". It has not been practice to redact any of the other Death in Custody reports published since 2012.
Ms Rosney said her family deserve to know what happened.
"We've suffered long enough, it's been five years, it's been long enough not to know what's happened. If I could talk to the Justice Minister myself, I would ask him a simple question; if this was your family member, if this was your Dad, what would you do?," she said.
A statement on behalf of Minister O'Callaghan said he had submitted a parliamentary question on behalf of Ms Rosney in September 2024 regarding the delay in holding an inquest.
This also said the department was consulting with the Attorney General on the content of the Death in Custody investigation report and, subject to this, it was his "intention" to publish this shortly.
In recent weeks, the family received word that Dublin Coroner's Court would schedule an inquest to establish the circumstances of Mr Rosney's death for late March of this year.
The appeal comes as part of a RTÉ Investigates documentary series on the increasing number of psychiatric patients that are being kept in the country's overcrowded prisons due to a lack of hospital spaces.
As part of this, a second family has come forward to demand answers as to how another man died in similar circumstances on the same medical unit of Cloverhill Prison less than two years later.
Johnbull Omoragbon was a Nigerian-born Spanish citizen who had been visiting Ireland. His family said while here he suffered a relapse of a psychiatric condition and was travelling home to Valencia, Spain to get treatment.
It has been established that in the midst of his psychiatric episode he was refused permission to board a plane at Dublin Airport. He was later observed chanting and talking to a wall in the airport and would not leave the Garda offices in the terminal.
He became agitated and was arrested and charged with a public order offence. Mr Omoragbon, who was a diabetic, was brought to Cloverhill Prison on 4 August 2022, where he was disciplined for not cooperating and placed in a cell for problem prisoners.
A Death in Custody report revealed he had been granted bail on a €50 cash bond but was not in a fit state to take it up. The court agreed he would be released and charges dropped if a bed became available for him in a psychiatric hospital.
His family in Spain have told RTÉ Investigates that they want an inquest to be held so that the full circumstances leading up to his death can be established. They said had he been allowed to travel home he would have been able to access the healthcare he needed rather than being kept in prison.
In its anonymised report, the Office of the Inspector of Prisons said that Mr Omoragbon had been refusing food and water and but would have been released to hospital had a bed been available.
The Irish Prison Service said it did not comment on specific cases but that it expressed its "sincere sympathies to the deceased's family members and friends".
It said it provided medical units but "demand for this accommodation has increased, reflecting wider pressures on national mental health services".
If you have been affected by the issues raised in this article, visit Helplines – RTÉ or Supporting People Affected By Mental Ill Health.
RTÉ Investigates: The Psychiatric Care Scandal by reporter Conor Ryan and producer/director Frank Shouldice will broadcast on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player on Monday 9 February and Tuesday 10 February at 9.35pm.
