Eoin Carroll reviews the past year in prison news, in which the JCFJ discussed the needs of young adults in prison, prisoners sleeping on cell floors, and the reliability of prison statistics. To mark Prisoners' Sunday, we also analysed the increasing numbers on extended lock-up (19-23hrs), the Oireachtas Justice Committee’s report on penal reform, the role of the Inspector of Prisons in establishing and monitoring standards and the visit of Pope Francis.

On many fronts, 2018 looks set to have been a pivotal year on climate change. Disruption and hardship here in Ireland caused by severe weather in the early part of the year and record warm temperatures during the summer months brought the impact of climate change into greater focus, says Catherine Devitt.

It’s a fool’s game to try to play the soothsayer, but it may be reasonable to suggest that the most important economic landmark of 2018 was (for those with “eyes to see”) that we are once again back in bubble-land, says Kevin Hargaden.

A statement by JCFJ on international Human Rights Day. 'A Right Denied: The Right to Housing in Ireland Seventy Years after the Proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights'.