Irish society and politicians do not care or believe in the rehabilitation of prisoners, according to a paper co-authored by a Corkman who ended up homeless after serving a sentence for heroin possession.

The paper — The Soul-Destroying Release From Prison Into The Void — was co-authored by former prisoner Paul O’Rourke with UCC academics Katharina Swirak and Ute Krenzer.

It has been published in the Journal of Prisoners on Prisons, published by the University of Ottawa Press in Canada, just five months after Mr O’Rourke died suddenly at the age of 42.

He was studying for a youth work degree at University College Cork and aimed to work with people who have come out of the justice system into homelessness.

He was also a peer researcher on UCC’s Clean Slate Cork research project.

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