“Everybody deserves a second chance” – Ann’s life after prison

When you’re lying in a prison cell, you think you’re not going to get work ever again. I was an industrial cleaner first, and I was in a college called Pathways for ex-prisoners. One of the tutors said Maggie (Clune, CEO at PACE – Prisoners Aid through Community Effort) was looking for somebody. He said: ‘I think you’ll be good at it’, I said, ‘Why’? And he said: ‘You like to talk!’. So I sent my CV off to Maggie, and she got in contact with me within a day.

I make coffees, I do a bit of ordering, I do a bit of cleaning, a bit of everything. I absolutely love it, and they look after you so well here. PACE is after making a huge difference. The fact that they believe in giving second chances to people like me coming out of prison is a huge thing. And they never judge you, they say: ‘Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody deserves a second chance’.

I have no plans to move on (from The Mug Shot), I’d be glad to stay here. My boss is more of a friend to me than a boss. If there’s anything wrong you can pick up the phone and he’ll always answer, same with Maggie, same with them all.

I got five years, but I only did one. The one and only thank God, no looking back. You’re a bit lost when you come out. Because you’ve been in there behind the door for a year and then you get out and go ‘Oh God, I have to look after myself again!’. You have to sign on the dole, you have to get a medical card, you have to get housing. And you don’t get that kind of training in there. They just don’t care. You’re a number to them, not a person.

I didn’t know what was going to happen (when I left prison). I had nothing in mind, because prisoners are judged, and you never think you’re going to get a job. People judge you. They judge the crime; they don’t actually know the person. With me it was circumstances, it was just a bad situation.

Some of the girls break the law to go in there for a roof over their head. They’re homeless, and in there you get your bed, you get your shower, you get your meals. We called it the revolving door, of girls that had no houses and no other way of life. It’s very sad. They need to be given a second chance, like I’m after getting.

Click here for more on Changing Ireland’s coverage of employment for people with convictions.