The Sunday Tribune has learned that two plain-clothes garda� from Mountjoy garda station are now working out of the nearby prison on a permanent basis.

Garda management decided that, because garda� were being called to the jail so often, it would make more sense to assign dedicated officers to carry out prison inquiries. The garda� are still assigned to their stations but work solely on inquiries relating to the jail.

In the last number of years, there has been a huge increase in criminal incidents at Mountjoy Prison and its neighbouring women's facility, the Dochas Centre. Prison authorities are obliged to contact garda� when any incident of a criminal nature takes place. This could be an assault, drugs find or threat against staff.

Both the male and female prisons have recently been in the news because of incidents there. In August 2006, 21-year-old Gary Douch was found dead in a holding cell he was sharing with six other men after suffering a severe beating. A man has been charged with his murder.

Some of Ireland's most notorious prisoners are housed in Mountjoy. Hassan Hassan, the husband of murdered Latvian mother-of-two Baiba Saulite, has made numerous threats against prison staff and has been investigated.

Drugs are routinely smuggled in to prisoners through visitors or over the prison wall and this also occupies a significant amount of garda time. One source said: "It's only common sense that, if we are over in the prison every day dealing with complaints, we should have dedicated people assigned to work exclusively at the prison.

"That way they are familiar with the staff and get to know the prisoners and the way the prison works. It is very true to say that the two lads are up to their eyes over there. The prison is like a tinderbox because it's so old and outdated and, because there is very little to do there, more trouble breaks out than in other prisons."